Saddam back in court for genocide trial

Prosecutors at the Iraqi High Tribunal say 182,000 Kurds were killed in death camps, bombings and poison gas attacks between 1987 and 1988, when Iraqi forces conducted the Anfal campaign, named after the Koranic term for "spoils".

The former Iraqi president and his co-defendants insist the operation was a legitimate military campaign against separatist guerrillas.

Saddam and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, a former military commander who became notorious for gas attacks as "Chemical Ali," are accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The five others are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, and all seven accused face the death penalty if convicted.

The defendants' own lawyers are boycotting the trial in protest at alleged interference by the Iraqi government, and Judge Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah has assigned seven court-appointed lawyers to conduct the defence.

During hearings on Monday and Tuesday, Kurdish civilians told of how they were herded into prison camps where they were exposed to disease, hunger, rape and murder and lost dozens of relatives to mass graves.