IRAQ: Saddam Hussein and three of his former associates will soon stand trial for the massacre, nearly 25 years ago, of about 150 Iraqis in the village of Dujail, the chief judge on the country's special tribunal said yesterday.
It is the first criminal case to be brought against the former dictator, who has been held in solitary confinement without charge since his capture by US forces in December 2003.
Judge Raid Juhi told a news conference in Baghdad that court proceedings against Saddam had begun and a date for the trial would be set "within days".
According to Iraqi law, there must be a gap of at least 45 days between the filing of charges and the start of a trial. It was unclear when the charges announced yesterday had been filed.
Asked if Saddam had officially been charged, Judge Juhi said: "Today, we have finished the investigation into the Dujail case. With this announcement, the tribunal enters the actual trial period of those accused remnants of the former regime." It is not the first time Iraqi authorities have announced the start of Saddam's trial, but human rights groups as well as US officials have urged it to take its time, saying that the proceedings must be seen to meet international standards of justice.
Amid the parlous security situation, however, frustration has been growing among the Shia population at the delay in the trial. Many say they want Saddam to have a swift trial and then be executed.
Ala Hussein (32), a labourer in the impoverished Baghdad Shia district of Sadr City, said: "Saddam should have been brought to trial before now. I want him to be executed. That is the only way the tragedy of the Iraqi people will end."
But Hazem Yehya, a retired army officer, said: "He should not be executed, but spend the rest of his life suffering in an Iraqi prison." The Dujail massacre is one of the minor charges being prepared against Saddam, but prosecutors believe there is enough evidence to produce a straightforward guilty verdict.
Iraqi investigators, aided by American advisers, are also preparing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, but the security problems and lack of forensic expertise has hampered the gathering of evidence.
Some Iraqis have voiced concern that a quick conviction and sentencing in the Dujail case could mean bigger crimes would never come to court.
The case relates to the killing, by Iraqi security forces, of an estimated 150 villagers in revenge for an assassination attempt on Saddam as his motorcade passed through the village, 50 miles north of Baghdad, in 1982.
Others facing trial in the case are Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and at the time head of Iraqi intelligence; the former vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan; and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, a former Ba'ath party official.
Judge Juhi said the investigation into other crimes against Saddam and members of his regime was "in its final stages".
Another 12 cases being prepared include the 1987-88 campaign to expel Kurds from areas such as Kirkuk, the gassing of Kurds at Halabja in 1988, and the suppression of the Shia revolt in the south after the 1991 Gulf war.
Among other senior former regime leaders expected to stand trial is Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for his alleged role in the Halabja attack.