"When you judge," Saddam Hussein once said, "judge with justice."

The trial of Iraq's ex-dictator could be the first great courtroom drama of the new century, throwing light on some of the blackest deeds of the past. But Saddam in the dock also could prove a larger-than-life focus for a political storm over postwar justice and the American role in Iraq.

The U.S.-led coalition hopes his capture in itself will demoralize Iraqi resistance forces loyal to his Baathist cause. But with the Baathist stigma gone, it also could spur other, anti-Saddam Iraqis to take up arms against the occupation.

In the same way, a Saddam trial could prove a national cleansing, a turning point toward a new Iraq of law and respect for human rights, and a warning to other authoritarians in the region. If mishandled, the prosecution of Saddam could turn him into an unlikely martyr.

"The trial of Saddam Hussein is enormously important. What's at stake is hard to exaggerate," said Richard Dicker of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Whether there would even be such a trial wasn't immediately determined, the U.S. military command said in Baghdad after the capture late Saturday. Iraq and the world fully expect one, however.

"It is vital for the Iraqi people to see justice done," said Ahmad Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. "The people of Iraq have been waiting for this moment," said Middle East legal expert Hanny Megally. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other world leaders spoke of a trial as inevitable.