Baghdad: Saddam Hussein has asked the court in his trial to execute him by firing squad - "not by hanging as a common criminal" - if it convicts him of all charges and sentences him to death.
Hussein appeared in court on Wednesday for the first time since his hunger strike and hospitalisation, looking thinner and complaining that he had been brought to the chamber against his will.
"I was brought against my will directly from the hospital," Hussein told the chief judge.
The ousted president made a brief statement beginning with a verse from the Quran before a court-appointed attorney began delivering the final summation on his behalf.
"If you were a real Iraqi, you would know that your country is going through extraordinary conditions," Hussein told the court.
"We not only resist this occupation. We do not acknowledge it. We do not acknowledge all the decisions it has made, including appointing the so-called government and this court you represent."
Hussein was last in court June 19 when chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi asked the court to impose the death penalty on the former ruler for his role in the deaths of Shiite Muslims in Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt against him.
He was rushed to hospital Sunday on the 17th day of a hunger strike launched to protest the trial and demand better security for the defense team following the assassination of three of its members.
Hussein and seven co-defendants have been on trial since October 19 in the Dujail case. The court is expected to adjourn following final summations for all eight defendants and then render a verdict, possibly in mid-August.
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