BAGHDAD - Iraq cancelled all military leave on Friday and put the armed forces on alert to thwart any outbreak of violence after the verdict in the trial of Saddam Hussein, which is expected on Sunday.

“All military personnel are on alert. Leave has been cancelled and we are on alert for any possible emergency,” said Major General Ibrahim Shaker, the spokesman for the Iraqi defence ministry.

“Those on leave should report to their units,” he added.

The Iraqi High Tribunal is expected to pronounce its verdict on Sunday in the trial of the ousted Iraqi leader and seven co-defendants accused of ordering the murder of 148 Shiite villagers in the 1980s.

If found guilty of crimes against humanity Saddam could be sentenced to death.

While Iraq’s Shiite and Kurdish communities celebrated Saddam’s fall after the US-led invasion of March 2003, he still retains support among some armed factions of the Sunni minority, which might protest the verdict.

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