Saddam Hussein is expected to appear in court when his trial reconvenes on Wednesday two weeks after he boycotted the last session saying he would not stand before an "unjust" court.

It will be Saddam's first court appearance after Iraq's 15 December election of a first full-term parliament since his downfall.

Jaafar al-Musawi, chief prosecutor, speaking to the Associated Press by telephone said: "Saddam and his defence team will be there,".

Two of Saddam's lawyers also said the former president was expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

Five prosecution witnesses are ready to take the stand on Wednesday, al-Musawi said, but it would be up to the court to decide whether to hear all of them.

It was unclear how many more prosecution witnesses, if any, would follow.

Grave charges

"We are very prepared for the resumption of the trial," al-Musawi said.

"There is evidence and there are documents with Saddam's signature on them," he told the AP. "When it's time for the prosecution to make its case, there will be a surprise."

He did not elaborate or provide any further details.

Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for the death of more than 140 Shia Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

Saddam refused to attend the last session held on 7 December.

One day before, Saddam in an outburst had shouted: "I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!"

Ziad al-Najdawi, one of Saddam's Jordan-based defence lawyers, said the former president would be in court on Wednesday "unless an obstacle emerges".

The court has so far heard nine witnesses who often gave emotional testimonies of random arrests, hunger and beatings while in custody and torture in detention.

Security concerns

Khamis al-Ubaidi, another lawyer on Saddam's defence team, argued that the "witnesses have no legal value. Their testimonies are based on coaching and unjustified narrative".

He said the defence team had security concerns that it wanted to tell the court about.

"The court has to provide the lawyers and the defence witnesses with security," he told The AP on Tuesday. "How can a lawyer work if he cannot move freely because of the security situation?"

He said that upon their arrival at Baghdad's airport on Tuesday, two of Saddam's lawyers, including Khalil al-Dulaimi, were insulted and beaten by "airport employees".

But Ahmad Abd al-Wahhab, an official in the Ministry of Transportation, denied the allegation.

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