The statement by national security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie's office said the 1920 Revolution Brigades planned to fire rockets at the court building during Monday's session. Iraqi intelligence uncovered the plot, but the statement did not say whether anyone had been arrested.

Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for the 1982 killing of more than 140 Shia Muslims in the town of Dujail following an assassination attempt against him there. The defendants face the death penalty if convicted.

Saddam Hussein has appeared in court for barely six hours so far, but doubts are already being raised about whether his trial is achieving its goals and if there will be enough evidence to convict him.

After two years of planning, some fear the trial, which reconvenes on Monday, could become a drawn out public relations battle, with no guarantees that the tribunal and its US backers will come out on top in the court of public opinion.

"Saddam Hussein needs a trial which is just and fair, open and transparent," Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told France's Le Figaro newspaper last week. "It is imperative that the trial doesn't become a public relations exercise.