Genocide added to Saddam accusations

Saddam Hussein will face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, the special tribunal trying him announced in Baghdad yesterday.

The accusations against the former President of Iraq concern atrocities committed during Operation Anfal, a notorious military campaign against the Kurdish population that, according to human rights groups, led to 100,000 deaths.

During the offensive, led by Saddam's cousin, Hassan al-Majeed, nicknamed "Chemical Ali", 5000 men, women and children were gassed at Halabja in 1988.

Investigative judge Raid Juhi said Saddam and six fellow defendants will face a separate prosecution over the Halabja attack once the court has dealt with the other Anfal charges.

"We declare the investigations are completed in the case called the Anfal campaign in which thousands of women, children and men were killed," Juhi said. "The villages were destroyed and burned, homes of worshippers and buildings of civilians were levelled without reason or a military requirement."

Saddam's fellow defendants on the genocide charges are Ali Hassan al-Majid, former defence minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad, former intelligence chief Saber Abdul Aziz al-Douri, former Republican Guards commander Hussein al-Tikriti, fellow commander Farthan Mutlaq al-Jubouri and former Nineveh provincial governor Taher Tafwiq al-Ani.

Saddam and seven other former officials of his regime have been on trial since October 19 charged in connection with the deaths of 140 people at the Shia town of Dujail.

Kurdish leaders have expressed concern that Saddam could be executed if convicted of the Dujail charges before the charges in relation to the Kurds come to trial.

Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani, said yesterday that the court was considering delaying sentencing in the various cases against Saddam until all of them had been heard.

This will mean the trials could stretch into years. United States officials want the proceedings ended as swiftly as possible because Saddam's televised presence, they believe, encourages the insurgency.

ON THE RECORD

Dujail massacre

* Saddam and seven others are charged with ordering and overseeing the killing of 148 Shiite men from the town of Dujail in July 1982.

Kurdish genocide

* Iraqi government forces launched a drive in 1987 and 1988 to reassert control over Kurdish areas in the north. The campaign, dubbed "Anfal" or "Spoils of War", saw villages flattened, farming destroyed and inhabitants removed.

Other possible trials

* Invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.

* Saddam and his security forces have been accused of numerous politically motivated killings and other human rights abuses.

* Saddam is accused of brutally suppressing uprisings by Shiites and ethnic Kurds.

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS