Saddam has been on trial for murder and crimes against humanity and, if convicted, could be sentenced to death by hanging. Violence is already running high, with police finding the bodies of 87 torture victims throughout the capital between 6 am Thursday and 6 pm Friday. Across Iraq, at least 16 people were killed or found dead on Saturday.

The highly anticipated verdict, planned for Sunday, is expected to set off further bloodshed, underscoring the trial’s failure to bring reconciliation to a country fractured ever deeper along sectarian lines.

“We hope that the verdict will give this man what he deserves for the crimes he committed against the Iraqi people,” said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has declared he hoped Saddam would be hanged.

“The Iraqi people will express their happiness in a way they see fit and we will call on the Iraqi people through a broadcast statement to remain calm and express their happiness in an appropriate way in this current situation, in a way that does not risk their lives,” the Shiite prime minister said after a meeting with tribal leaders from the restive southern city of Amarah.

An aide to al-Maliki said authorities are imposing a 12-hour curfew on Baghdad and three surrounding provinces starting at 6 am Sunday. Not just cars, but people will be barred from the streets. Baghdad’s airport also will be closed.

The curfew will cover all of Baghdad province, Salahuddin province, which includes Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, and the Sunni insurgent hotbeds of Diyala and Anbar provinces.

Leave for all military personnel has been cancelled indefinitely and vacationing soldiers recalled to active duty. New checkpoints sprang up everywhere, including within the fortified Green Zone that houses Iraqi government offices and the US and British embassies.