Trial of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his seven aides over the killing of 148 Shiites resumed in a Baghdad court on Monday.

At the beginning of the session, Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman read a report by an handwriting expert team designated to verify signatures of Saddam and his co-defendants on documents presented by the prosecutors, which were said to be linked with the killing.

Saddam, in a black suit and white shirt, appeared in court along with all the other seven co-defendants.

In the previous session on April 19, Abdel-Rahman ruled that the signatures connecting Saddam to the case were authentic.

But Saddam and his co-accused have repeatedly claimed that the signatures on the documents were not theirs.

Saddam and his aides are facing charges against humanity including the killing of 148 Shiite men in the northern village of Dujail following an assassination attempt on Saddam's life there in 1982.

If convicted, they might face death penalty.

Moments before the trial started, a car bomb killed three people and wounded 25 others in central Baghdad while two other car bombs blew off in quick succession in east of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 15 others.

Monday's session came as Iraqi politicians broke a months-long deadlock on Saturday and formally picked Shiite leader Jawa al- Maliki as the new prime minister-designate.

Source: Xinhua