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Mass graves searched for 2nd Saddam trial
27.6.2006
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Evidence allegedly links
deposed Iraqi dictator to 1980 Kurdish genocide
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) , -- Forensics experts
unearthing the skeletons of Saddam Hussein's alleged
victims have found an unexpected wealth of
identification cards in mass graves, investigators
said Monday.
As the ousted leader’s first trial winds down, the
investigators say the discovery of the ID cards has
been a pivotal development in a new case against
Saddam — the 1980s military campaign that killed an
estimated 100,000 Kurds.
The IDs showed that the bodies are those of Kurds
and gave the investigators other crucial information
such as the alleged victims' hometowns, where
follow-up interviews could be conducted with
survivors, they said.
“When we first started, we didn’t think we’d find
any IDs,” said Michael “Sonny” Trimble, a
53-year-old forensic archaeologist from Missouri who
is the director of the Iraqi Mass Graves Team.
“The focus changed. It was dramatic,” he said during
a tour for reporters that offered the first glimpse
of the forensic analysis facility on the outskirts
of Baghdad.
“We went from let’s do the clothes and forensic
analysis to let’s do the clothes, the bones can
wait,” Trimble said.
Second trial for ‘Anfal’
Trimble and his team work at a laboratory in nine
large tents, piecing together the stories of the
people buried in mass graves around the country to
provide evidence for future trials.
The defense is preparing to sum up its case next
month in the trial against Saddam and seven
co-defendants in the deaths of 148 people during a
crackdown on a Shiite village. |
The chief prosecutor in the trial of Saddam Hussein,
Jaafar al-Mussawi, listens to the explanation of a
forensic expert as he gathers the bones of a human
being at a laboratory. Forensic experts and
archaeologists are painstakingly piecing together
stories from skeletal remains in mass graves —
evidence for prosecutors preparing new cases against
ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Photo:Reuters
Former dictator Saddam Hussein
Photo : AFP |
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Iraq’s High Tribunal also is preparing for a second
trial charging Saddam with genocide in a 1980s
military campaign against the Kurds. An estimated
100,000 people were killed in the campaign, known as
“Anfal.”
Saddam has remained defiant, and chief defense
lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi indicated his client
believes he can bargain his way out of trials that
could result in the death penalty.
Saddam thinks U.S. will seek his help
Al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press on Sunday that
the former leader is the key to stability in Iraq
and that Saddam believes the United States will have
to seek his help to quell the insurgency.
“He’s their last resort. They’re going to knock at
his door eventually,” al-Dulaimi said. Saddam is
“the only person who can stop the resistance against
the U.S. troops.”
AP
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