http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A stiff curfew will be imposed in Baghdad and two Iraqi provinces on Sunday ahead of the verdict and sentencing in the trial of Saddam Hussein.

A complete movement ban -- both people and vehicles -- will be imposed in the capital and in Salaheddin and Diyala provinces starting at 6 a.m. Sunday until further notice, the Iraqi prime minister's office told CNN.

Baghdad International Airport will also be shut down on Sunday until further notice.

Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader al-Obeidi on Friday canceled leave for all army officers, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

One by one the eight defendants, including Hussein, will file into the courtroom Sunday to receive their sentences from a five-judge panel. Hussein's verdict -- which could be the death penalty for crimes against humanity -- is expected to be announced last.

The defendants are on trial for crimes stemming from a brutal crackdown against citizens in the town of Dujail after an attempt on Hussein's life in 1982.

People were jailed and tortured, and the government is suspected of ordering the execution of 148 people.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said: "I hope the verdict will be what this man deserves for what he committed against the Iraqi people.

"Therefore the Iraqi people will express their joy in the way they see appropriate; we will call on them in an address tomorrow to remain calm and show constraint and express this joy in an appropriate manner that suit this nations' challenges."

He made the remarks during a meeting with tribal leaders on Saturday.

Prosecutors recommend a death by hanging sentence for Hussein.

Meanwhile, in continued violence in and around the capital, five civilians were killed in several incidents on Saturday, and 27 slain bodies were found in Baghdad, police told CNN.

Two people died and five were wounded when gunmen opened fire on civilians in the Hiteen neighborhood of western Baghdad, and two civilians died and five were wounded in a car bomb near Sadr City.

South of Baghdad, in the Babil province town of Mahmoudiya, a civilian was killed and three others were wounded in a car bombing.

Also, police said they found 27 bullet-riddled bodies in various Baghdad neighborhoods over the past 24 hours or so.
Rocket fired at military base

A rocket launched by "rogue elements of militias" missed a coalition military base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra Saturday, British military spokesman, Maj. Charlie Burbridge said, quoting Iraqi policemen on the scene.

Four Russian specialists were reportedly wounded in the misfire and are scheduled to return to Moscow Sunday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

In an earlier report, Burbridge said two Russians and an Iraqi colleague working for an electricity company were killed as a result of indirect fire that was intended to hit the base in northern Basra. Interfax did not mention the Iraqi colleague in their report.

Saturday's incident sometimes occurs, Burbridge said, since often long-range rockets miss their intended targets due to imprecise capabilities. Coalition forces have experienced a gradual increase in the number of rocket attacks -- up from 12 per month to 16, he said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces raid Sadr City

U.S. and Iraqi forces raided Baghdad's Sadr City and arrested three suspected members of an illegal armed group blamed for murdering and kidnapping Iraqi citizens and security forces Saturday, the U.S. military said.

The raid sparked a gun battle involving rocket-propelled grenades from "hostile elements" as the troops were leaving the area with the cell's leader and two of its members.

"Iraqi forces returned fire at clearly identified targets to neutralize the threat and continued their return to base," the military said.

There were no reports of Iraqi forces of coalition casualties, but the military did not say if any militants or civilians had been wounded.

The raid comes shortly after U.S. forces cordoned off the city and launched a massive hunt for a missing U.S. soldier believed to be held captive there.

Days later Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, called off the checkpoints the military had set up around the densely populated Shiite area, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The recent hostilities in Sadr City and the surrounding areas involving the militia are thought to be due to sectarian strife.

U.S. and Iraqi forces raided western Baghdad's Jihad district and arrested nine suspected members of an illegal armed group blamed for building car and roadside bombs used in attacks on Iraqi citizens and security forces Friday, the U.S. military said Saturday.

The military said two of the suspects also helped train other militants to build car and roadside bombs.

There were no reports of Iraqi or coalition casualties, but the military did not say whether any militants or civilians had been killed or wounded.

In a trend of increasing violence, 11 U.S. service members died in the first two days of November, all but one killed in combat.

Of those, three were Marines killed Thursday in combat in Anbar province.

The 11 bring the number of American fatalities in the war to 2,822. Seven contractors working for the Defense Department also have been killed.

When they hang him there will be 20,000,000 people celebrating, and 20 rioting.

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