Saddam's genocide trial begins in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The second trial of Saddam Hussein began Monday, opening a new legal chapter for the ousted Iraqi leader, who this time around faces charges of genocide and war crimes from his scorched-earth offensive against Kurds nearly two decades ago.
The case against Saddam and six co-defendants is tied to the deaths of tens of thousands of people during the Iraqi army's "Operation Anfal" — Arabic for "spoils of war." Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
The 1987-88 crackdown was aimed at crushing independence-minded Kurdish militias and clearing all Kurds from the northern region along the border with Iran. Saddam accused the Kurds of helping Iran in its war with Iraq.
Kurdish survivors say many villages were razed and countless young men disappeared. They also accuse the army of using prohibited mustard gas and nerve agents, but the trial does not deal with the most notorious gassing — the March 1988 attack on Halabja that killed an estimated 5,000 Kurds. That incident will be part of a separate investigation by the Iraqi High Tribunal.
Saddam was the first defendant called into the court as the trial's first session began Monday morning — in the same courtroom where he spent months in his turbulent first trial. That case was over the killings of more than 148 Shiite Muslims from the town of Dujail in a crackdown launched after a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam.
Verdicts for Saddam and seven co-defendants are expected in that case on Oct. 16.
Verdict due Oct. 16? Could we have us an execution before Thanksgiving?