The prosecutor in the Saddam Hussein trial demanded the death penalty Monday for the deposed leader and two of his top co-defendendants.

Saddam Hussein and Abdullah Kazim Ruwayyid, left, listen as the prosecution begins giving its closing arguments, at the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and seven members of his regime in Baghdad, Iraq Monday, June 19, 2006. [AP]

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said in closing arguments that the former Iraqi leader and his regime committed crimes against humanity in a "revenge" attack on Shiite civilians in the 1980s.

The arguments brought the eight-month-old trial into its final phase, and after Monday's session, the court adjourned until July 10, when the defense will begin making its final summation.

Saddam, dressed in a black suit, sat silently, sometimes taking notes, as chief prosecutor al-Moussawi delivered his arguments, listing the evidence against each of the eight defendants.

Concluding his remarks, al-Moussawi asked for the death penalty against Saddam, his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Taha Yassin Ramadan, a former senior regime member. "They were spreading corruption on earth ... and even the trees was not save from their oppression," he said.

"Well done," Saddam muttered sarcastically.