Baghdad, Iraq ? Nearly two years after his capture, Saddam Hussein is finally facing trial for alleged crimes against fellow Iraqis. In some ways, Iraq also will be on trial, with the world watching to see whether its new ruling class can rise above politics and prejudice and give the former dictator a fair hearing.

Saddam’s lawyer said Tuesday he would ask for a three-month adjournment at his client’s trial for a 1982 massacre, and challenge the court’s competence to hear the case. The trial was to begin today.

Khalil al-Dulaimi’s comments appeared to suggest that his defense strategy will focus not on the details of the massacre but rather on the broader question of the legitimacy and competence of a court set up under U.S. occupation in 2003. Iraq formally became a sovereign nation again in June 2004, but the United States continues to wield vast influence.

Saddam and seven senior members of his regime are facing charges that they ordered the killing in 1982 of nearly 150 people in the mainly Shiite village of Dujail north of Baghdad after a failed attempt on the former dictator’s life.

The ousted Iraqi leader and his co-defendants were expected to hear the charges against them in today’s session. The session was to be held under tight security in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to Iraq’s government, parliament and the U.S. and British Embassies.

If convicted, the men face the death penalty – by hanging.

Prosecutors are preparing other cases to bring to trial against Saddam and his officials – including for the Anfal Operation, a military crackdown on the Kurds in the late 1980s that killed some 180,000 people; the suppression of Kurdish and Shiite revolts in 1991; and the deaths of 5,000 Kurds in a 1988 poison gas attack on the village of Halabja.

If Saddam’s lawyer has his way, then today’s hearing would, as expected, be taken up by procedural matters followed by a long break.

Al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press on Tuesday he wanted the three-month adjournment to prepare Saddam’s defense and arrange for Arab and Western lawyers to join him.

He said he met with Saddam for 90 minutes Tuesday at a location other than the usual place of detention for the ousted Iraqi leader. He would not say where.

“His morale is very, very, very high and he is very optimistic and confident of his innocence, although the court is … unjust,” he said of Saddam, who has been kept at a U.S.-run facility at Baghdad International Airport since his capture by American troops in December 2003.

“We will dispute the legitimacy of the court as we’ve been doing every day,” al-Dulaimi said.

The court was expected to agree to his request for a postponement, though it was not clear how long that would be.