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Saddam trial resumes after break | |
(20 minutes later) | |
The trial of Saddam Hussein and six others on genocide charges has resumed in Baghdad after a three-week break. | |
A former Kurdish guerrilla told the court of the deadly aftermath of what he said was a chemical attack carried out by the then Iraqi leader's forces. | |
Katherine Elias Mikhail described how people fell to the ground, vomiting and in pain, after a bombing raid in 1987. | Katherine Elias Mikhail described how people fell to the ground, vomiting and in pain, after a bombing raid in 1987. |
The prosecution says that up to 180,000 civilians were killed during the Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds. | |
Saddam Hussein was present in court along with his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid. Both men are accused of genocide. | |
Vomiting | Vomiting |
Ms Mikhail told the court she was a Kurdish peshmerga guerrilla in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq when Iraqi forces bombed the mountainous region with chemical weapons. | |
Now a writer who lives in the US, Ms Mikhail denounced Saddam Hussein and Mr Majid - whose nickname in Iraq is Chemical Ali - as those responsible for the campaign. | Now a writer who lives in the US, Ms Mikhail denounced Saddam Hussein and Mr Majid - whose nickname in Iraq is Chemical Ali - as those responsible for the campaign. |
She also criticised the international companies which she said had provided the Iraqi regime with chemical weapons. | She also criticised the international companies which she said had provided the Iraqi regime with chemical weapons. |
Challenged by Mr Majid, Ms Mikhail described how planes carrying chemical bombs had attacked peshmerga bases and Kurdish villages. | |
"I saw hundreds of people - not dozens but hundreds. They were vomiting and their eyes were watering," she said. | "I saw hundreds of people - not dozens but hundreds. They were vomiting and their eyes were watering," she said. |
Iraqi flag | |
Mr Majid interjected often, asking technical military questions. | |
Saddam Hussein said he inherited the Iraqi flag | |
But Saddam Hussein restricted his defence to one long intervention, saying he had never been opposed to the Kurds. | |
But he also attacked the present Kurdish leader, Massoud Barzani, for provoking a national debate over the flag. | |
Mr Barzani says that the Iraqi flag should not be raised over government buildings in the Kurdish region. | |
But the former Iraqi dictator said that it was not his flag. It had been inherited. | |
Awaiting sentence | Awaiting sentence |
The trial was adjourned until Tuesday. | The trial was adjourned until Tuesday. |
All the defendants face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They could face the death penalty if convicted. | All the defendants face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They could face the death penalty if convicted. |
Saddam Hussein and seven other defendants have already been tried for the killing of 148 Shias in Dujail in 1982. | Saddam Hussein and seven other defendants have already been tried for the killing of 148 Shias in Dujail in 1982. |
A verdict is due in October. | A verdict is due in October. |