IRAQ: Witness says Saddam soldiers executed Kurds at ditch

A Kurdish man told a court trying Saddam Hussein for genocide on Tuesday (October 31) he saw Iraqi soldiers marching Kurdish prisoners from a bus, blindfolding them and killing them before dumping their bodies in a ditch. The man, who did not give his name and spoke from behind a curtain in a Baghdad courtroom, said he survived after he pretended he was dead and then escaped as he trekked all night in the desert, where he said he was attacked by dogs. "I said to my cousin, they are killing us, so let us go and in that way we will die together," he said. The man, who testified as a civilian plaintiff, said a guard then got into the ditch and executed the wounded at close range while he cursed Kurdish guerrilla chieftains. He estimated 35 Kurdish men were killed in the ditch in the April 1988 incident. Saddam, his cousin "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid, and five other commanders are on trial for their roles in the 1988 Anfal (Spoils of War) campaign against Kurds in northern Iraq which prosecutors says killed 180,000 people, many of them gassed. All the defendants have been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Saddam and Majid face the additional, graver charges of genocide. Saddam, ousted in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, has justified his campaign against Kurdish guerrillas as a legitimate military target at a time when Kurdish rebels had sided with then arch-enemy Iran during the Iraq-Iran war. Saddam is due to hear the verdict and a possible death sentence in a separate trial, for crimes against humanity involving Shi'ites. The chief prosecutor has said Sunday's session may be delayed, pushing it till after the U.S. elections. Saddam, 69, could be hanged if convicted but any appeal could drag on amid other trials he may yet face. The trail proceedings have been adjourned until November 7.

ITN Source | October 31, 2006

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