The clock in the courthouse was at high noon when Saddam Hussein was summoned to hear the punishment for his crimes.

There had been little question about the result. No one expected him to be found innocent, and the Iraqi prime minister had already called for his execution to be carried out quickly before the hearing that delivered the verdict had even been held.

The previous day, Saddam had met his lawyers in his prison at an American military base by Baghdad airport and told them that he knew he would be sentenced to death.

They described him as being in a jovial mood, smiling when told of the latest American casualties, and dismissing with a laugh the court that would determine his fate as “corrupt” and one “manipulated” by outside powers.

“There will be rivers of blood for years to come,” he told them. “It will dwarf Vietnam.”

He was somber though, as he made his way to the dock. Dressed in a black suit provided for him by his Turkish tailor and holding an ornate Koran in his left hand, he walked with a steady gait.

In front of him was the raised platform at which the five judges sat. Already the chief judge, Raouf Abdel Rahman, had issued the judgments on his seven co-defendants, reading from the documents in front of him.

Saddam sat down, leaned back in his chair, and looked at him. “Stand up to hear the judgment,” Mr. Abdel Rahman instructed.

There was a flicker of surprise on the face of the man whose word had once been law in Iraq. “I will listen to the judgment, but I will not stand up,” he said.

Two bailiffs were called to force him to his feet. One grabbed him by the elbow and twisted it. “Don’t bend me, you ugly man,” he shouted, looking shaken.

“There’s no use, Saddam,” the judge said, staring at him.

The sentence started to be read. After a few words, Saddam began to shout. It was a monologue that seemed rehearsed, a final act of defiance planned for broadcast to the Iraqi people and the Arab world. “Long live the people, long live the nation, down with the agents [of foreign powers],” he said. “God is great, God is great, God is great.” The judge had continued reading the verdict throughout the outburst. Saddam looked directly at him. “Too hell with you,” he said.

One of his lawyers jumped up and protested at the behavior of the bailiff standing in front of the dock, clearly grinning and chewing gum.

Saddam did not appear to care as the guard was ordered to leave the court. Accepting the sentence, he said: “We are man enough for it.”

The judge was shouting as he ended his statement, his voice almost drowning Saddam out. His face was red with the effort. Saddam’s looked momentarily haggard.

“The criminal invaders to hell. Our enemies are the enemies of humanity. You are a traitor. Long live Iraq,” he shouted.

Then, the statement finished, Saddam was instructed to leave. He had been present for less than five minutes. He shouted again, “Long live Iraq.”

As news of the verdict and his performance in court started spreading through Iraq, the reactions reflected the sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.

In Shiite areas, the air was filled with celebratory gunfire. In the Shiite slum of Sadr City in Baghdad, people were ignoring the curfew to take to the streets shouting, “Deliver him to us, we will execute him ourselves.”

In Saddam’s home town of Tikrit, more than 1,000 people had gathered waving pictures of their former leader, while in a Sunni neighborhood of North Baghdad, armed men began shooting at policemen, and later in insurgent Ramadi, there were attacks on American soldiers.

As Saddam was led from the courtroom, he passed close to the visitors’ gallery. The sentence had been one of death, and no one watching had expected to see what they witnessed. On the condemned man’s face was a smile.