Electoral Commission official Farid Ayar called the vote "100% correct" and said that there were "no cases of fraud that could affect the results of the vote".

The Bush administration has touted last weekend's referendum in Iraq as progress but analysts said on Monday the new constitution was too ambiguous and that violence still overshadowed Iraq's political future. Partial results from Saturday's referendum indicated a victory for the constitution the United States hopes will help stabilize Iraq and ultimately lead to 156,000 U.S. troops coming home.

The tribunal, which was set up in December 2003, has been marred by delays. There are accusations of bias from the defense council of Hussein, as well as fears for the judges' safety which have consistently pushed the trial back. The defense team has challenged the tribunal's legitimacy and stated they have not been given enough time to prepare.

CNN now reports the death toll as 965 dead and 465 injured.

Signs indicate little chance of a resolution to the Sunni oppostion, however. "If it passes, there will be an uprising in the streets," Saleh al-Mutlak, a Sunni negotiator working on the constition said. Another negotiator, Soha Allawi, said, "We will campaign ... to tell both Sunnis and Shi'ites to reject the constitution, which has elements that will lead to the break-up of Iraq and civil war."

The study, compiled from more than 10,000 media reports, says that 37 % of these deaths were the result of allied actions. Anti-occupation forces and terrorists accounted for 9 % of the deaths, while criminal violence was blamed for 36 %. The 28-page dossier also showed that the situation in Iraq is getting worse. The fatalities in the second year after the invasion were twice as high as in the first year after the end of the war.

Saddam and three others have been charged with the killings in Dujail, the town in which the ex-president survived an assassination attempt in 1982. The charge is minor compared to other crimes Saddam is accused of committing; however he would still face the death penalty if he were to be convicted. The Tribunal is said to have picked this charge as it is one in which the investigation has progressed the most.

"There were a number of policemen outside the restaurant having tea from Alaa, the tea man. There were two tables with chairs around them where the policemen were sitting. Then a suicide bomber came close to them and blew himself up," said a 29-year-old witness, Qusay Kaabi, according to the Washington Post. "It was a very loud explosion, and the restaurant was filled with smoke and dust."

According to CBC News, the Guardian and the New York Times, Baghdad will be sealed off with 675 checkpoints. 40,000 Iraqi troops, backed by 10,000 U.S. troops, will be deployed on the streets within the next week in an aggressive cordon-and-search mission. Baghdad will be split into two sectors and 15 districts, with emergency personnel and police operating round the clock, checking identity cards in hotels and restaurants, patrolling neighborhoods and raiding militant safehouses.