Lawyer Ziad Khasawneh, spokesman for the Jordanian Committee for Defending Saddam, said Iyad Allawi's government set up a special court headed by Iraqi lawyer Jamal Mustafa to conduct a fake trial of the former dictator.

Khasawneh said the Iraqi authorities conducted a hasty interrogation of Saddam as a prelude to holding a quick trial, taking advantage of the world's preoccupation with the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.

"We have received information indicating that the Iraqi government dispatched a group of lawmen to Britain for training in speedy trials in order to avoid committing big mistakes in Saddam's trial," he said