Saddam trial adjourned till September 11th

CBC News
Aug. 24, 2006

The trial of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and six other defendants has been adjourned until Sept. 11 so Chief Judge Abdullah al-Amiri can consider an appeal from defence lawyers about the court's legitimacy.

The decision on Wednesday followed testimony from four witnesses who described scenes of horror after Iraqi planes dropped chemical weapons on Kurdish villages in 1987 and helicopters chased fleeing villagers into the hills.

The trial was only in its second day when the halt was called. Saddam and one other defendant, his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, face genocide charges arising from the 1987-88 Anfal campaign, when Iraq killed between 50,000 to 180,000 Kurds. Al-Majid was dubbed "Chemical Ali" after the attacks.

All seven defendants — the others are mainly former military leaders — face charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Two of the defendants have said they were attacking only Iranian troops and Kurdish rebels in the campaign.

Bombs emitted smoke

A survivor of the Aug. 16, 1987, bombardment of the Kurdish village of Balisan graphically described the aircraft attack, flight by villagers and subsequent jailing.

Adiba Oula Bayez said warplanes dropped bombs that emitted smoke.

One daughter complained about pains in her eyes, chest and stomach, and then threw up. Soon all her five children were vomiting. "Then my condition got bad, too. And that's when we realized that the weapon was poisonous and chemical," she said.

As the villagers fled to nearby caves, they were attacked by helicopters.

Many people in the caves, including Bayez, had been blinded by the gas. Others were vomiting blood or had been badly burned.

Soldiers took the villagers to a prison camp, where Bayez said four people kept in the same room with her died.

After five days there, she was able to open her eyes. "I saw my children's eyes swollen, their skin blackened."

Other Kurds told similar stories, with the dates and village names changing.

As well as the testimony of survivors, prosecutors plan to call 75 witnesses, use evidence from mass graves and cite documents from Saddam's administration.

Saddam could be executed if convicted.

This is his second trial; a verdict is expected on Oct. 16 from his first, where he was accused of killing 148 Shias in the town of Dujail near Baghdad. Gunmen attacked his motorcade in 1982, and 148 men and boys disappeared in the regime's brutal response.
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With files from the Associated Press












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