By Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Baghdad - A 54-year-old Shi'a jurist will preside as chief judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein and six others for their role in the 1980s campaign that killed an estimated 100 000 Kurds, a court official said on Sunday.
Judge Abdullah al-Amiri will head the five-member panel that will convene on August 21, the official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media. Munqith Takleef al-Firuan will serve as the chief prosecutor, he said.
A Kurdish judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, headed the panel for Saddam's trial in the killing of Shi'as in Dujail. That trial adjourned last month until October 16, when the verdicts are expected for Saddam and seven other defendants.
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The upcoming case involves Saddam's alleged role in Operation Anfal, Arabic for "spoils of war". The regime launched the 1987-1988 operation to crush independence-minded Kurdish militias and clear the Kurdish population along the sensitive Iranian border area. Saddam had accused Kurdish militias of ties to Iran.
Saddam and the six others face genocide charges over the campaign, which left thousands of Kurdish villages razed and their inhabitants either killed or displaced.
They could face the death penalty if convicted. - Sapa-AP
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