Saddam’s second trial to begin

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A new legal chapter opens today for Saddam Hussein when the ousted Iraqi leader goes on trial for a second time, charged with 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” – and 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.

The trial begins as Saddam and seven others await a verdict from a trial for their alleged involvement in the killings of more than 148 Shiite Muslims from Dujail as punishment for an assassination attempt on Saddam in the town in 1982.

Critics have decried the first trial’s lengthy, sometimes chaotic proceedings.

The Dujail trial was marred by disorder, with Saddam repeatedly engaging in arguments with the judges and then boycotting the proceedings. Defense teams repeatedly walked out, prompting the appointment of replacements. Three defense lawyers also were assassinated.

A U.S. official close to the tribunal defended its fairness Sunday, saying that while none of the judges in the Anfal case has practiced international human rights law, the panel has “an adviser experienced in working with international tribunals.” The official would not specify but said the person is not an American.

Abdullah al-Amiri, a 54-year-old Shiite who was a judge under Saddam’s regime for 25 years, heads the five-member panel as chief judge.

Many Kurds say they expect retribution. “We have been wishing for this for so long – to see the dictator Saddam Hussein tried for these horrible crimes,” said Othman Hajji Mahmoud, interior minister in the Kurdish region’s provincial government.