If found guilty, he could face the gallows. But since the start of his trial, deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has shown indifference for his victims, aggression to his judges and no regret for his more than two decades in power. Saddam has yet to reveal any hint of weakness in the face of the graphic and sometimes gruesome testimony from witnesses who stood just metres away from him.

At least 73 worshippers were killed and 85 wounded on Friday in suicide attacks on two Shi’ite mosques in an eastern town near the border with Iran, the latest deadly strike by rebels on Iraq’s majority religious group. The attack came just hours after suicide bombers killed six people outside a Baghdad hotel.