RTE NEWS- - The international campaign group Human Rights Watch, has said the trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity was fundamentally flawed and that its verdict was unsound.

Human Rights Watch says the court was undermined by Iraqi government actions that threatened its independence and perceived impartiality.

Saddam Hussein was sentenced earlier this month after a trial lasting more than a year for his role in ordering the deaths of 148 Shia civilians from the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after an assassination attempt in 1982.
The verdict and sentences in the first trial are currently under appeal.

The former Iraqi president, who was sentenced to death by hanging along with two other defendants, is now on trial for genocide.

In Baghdad this morning, Iraqi and US forces raided a mosque in Sadr City which was allegedly used by a cell that was kidnapping, torturing and murdering Iraqis.

No one was detained, despite US military allegations that the cell has more than 30 members and used the mosque compound as a place to conduct its illegal activity and store weapons.

In Washington, a Pentagon panel has outlined three basic options for improving the situation in Iraq: pull out, send more troops or reduce the size of the force but stay longer.

The Washington Post this morning says the group is likely to recommend a combination of a small short-term increase of troops and long-term training for Iraqi forces.