SULAIMANIYAH,
Iraq, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A judge investigating
charges against Saddam Hussein has held talks with
Kurdish officials on the 1988 poison gas attack
against the village of Halabja, the regional cabinet
in northern Iraq said on Monday.
"The aim of this visit was to inspect and collect
information regarding the use of weapons of mass
destruction against the city of Halabja," the
Kurdistan cabinet said in a brief statement.
"The method of Saddam's trial and the gathering of
information and documents by the Kurds were
discussed in the meeting," the statement added.
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Former dictator
Saddam Hussein
Photo : AP
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Saddam,
who ruled Iraq with an iron fist for decades, has
been charged with the killing of 150 men in the
village of Dujail just north of Baghdad after a
failed attempt on his life.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Dujail is seen as a relatively minor case among the
accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity
levelled at the ousted president and his senior
advisers.
But prosecutors hope it will be easier to secure a
conviction in a smaller case against Saddam, who is
under physical U.S. military custody on the edge of
Baghdad.
Convicting him on charges such as ordering the
chemical attack on Halabja near the Iranian border,
which killed an estimated 5,000 people, could be far
more difficult because a chain of command must be
proven, Iraqi officials and legal experts say.
SADDAM DISMISSED ACCUSATIONS
Saddam dismissed accusations of genocide in Halabja,
saying Iranian forces, with whom Iraq was at war
from 1980-88, were the targets.
Judge Raid Juhi, who has questioned Saddam several
times, was accompanied by a delegation from the
Special Tribunal trying Saddam.
"The two sides discussed the ways of arranging a
trial for Saddam Hussein and his assistants,
especially regarding the collection of documents and
evidence related to crimes of chemical attacks...,"
a Kurdish cabinet official told Reuters.
Saddam has challenged the authority of the court,
saying it was an American creation that violates
Iraqi sovereignty.
Juhi's delegation is expected to visit several
Kurdish cities.
Saddam and his aides are also accused of carrying
out the Anfal campaign against the Kurds between
1986 and 1989 in which over 100,000 people are said
to have been killed and many villages destroyed.
Reuters
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