The trial -- often punctuated by outbursts and other antics from Hussein and his seven co-defendants -- was disparaged by some as a political show and victor's vendetta and hailed by others as a historic symbol of Iraq's fledgling democracy. The first chief judge quit, complaining of political interference in the case, and gunmen killed three defense attorneys during the trial. Many legal experts questioned the trial's fairness, saying Iraq's justice system was not equipped to handle such a significant case, and that it should have been held in a third country.

Hussein's defense attorneys warned that a guilty verdict and sentence of death would sparked renewed attacks against U.S. and other collation forces in Iraq and lead to a wider civil war. They also accused the Bush administration and the Shiite-dominated government of Nouria al-Maliki of colluding to scheduled the verdict so it came two days before crucial mid-term elections, hoping to give Bush's Republican Party an electoral boost. Iraqi and U.S. officials have denied the charge.

Clashes immediately broke out Sunday in north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district, and a Sunni political leader condemned the court decision.

"This government will be responsible for the consequences, with the deaths of hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands, whose blood will be shed," Salih al-Mutlaq, the Sunni politician, told the al-Arabiya satellite television station.

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials canceled all military leaves, ordered the Baghdad airport closed and imposed an indefinite curfew from 6 a.m. today in the capital and the religiously mixed provinces of Diyala and Salahuddin, home to Saddam's birthplace and the Shiite town at the center of his trial.