Saddam genocide trial resumes in Baghdad

The trial of ousted President Saddam Hussein and six of his aides on charges of genocide against Kurds resumed in Baghdad on Wednesday.

In Wednesday's trial, Saddam and six former senior aides continued to hear witnesses' testimonies. They face charges of genocide for their roles in the 1988 Anfal (Spoils of War) military campaign against ethnic Kurds.

Prosecutors say that up to 180,000 Kurds were killed, many of them by gas.

On Tuesday, Saddam showed up in the courtroom for the genocide trial for the first time after he was sentenced to death on Sunday. Appearing quite calm, Saddam urged the Iraqis "to forgive, reconcile and shake hands."

"I call on Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands," Saddam said.

Saddam and two of his senior aides were sentenced to death by hanging on Sunday for crimes against humanity in the Dujail case, in which 148 people were executed in the aftermath crackdown on the town following a failed assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.

Saddam's fate after Sunday's trial is now in the hands of an Iraqi High Tribunal's nine-judge Appellate Chamber, which could amend both verdict and sentence.

Source: Xinhua