Saddam Kurdish genocide trial resumes

BAGHDAD – A 56-year-old Kurdish woman told of seeing people sickened and dying during an alleged chemical attack carried out by Saddam Hussein’s forces, as the genocide trial of the ex-president resumed yesterday after nearly a three-week break.

The trial resumed on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks by al-Qaida on the United States. A recent US Senate committee report found no link between Saddam and the terror network, despite carefully crafted White House statements that implied a role for the former Iraqi leader.That was used in part to justify the 2003 invasion that toppled him.During the morning session, Katreen Elias Mikhail, a Kurdish Christian and former militia fighter, said four Iraqi planes unleashed a wave of bombs on the evening of June 5 1987 on the town of Qalizewa, sending people fleeing for shelter.”I smelled something dirty and strange,” she told the court.Mikhail said she was stranded in an underground shelter with her friend Umm Ali and dozens of other people.”Then, I heard comrade Abu Elias shout ‘is there a doctor here?”‘ said the dignified-looking woman, her left hand trembling.”People were falling to the ground.They vomited and their eyes were blinded.We couldn’t see anything.””We were all afraid,” she said, her voice cracking.”It was our first time seeing bombs falling on our heads.”Sitting in the witness stand, she said that her friend, Nashme, told her that “the whole town was hit with chemical weapons.”When the smoke subsided, Mikhail said she saw some people with “burn wounds and they were blind.”Mikhail appeared to lodge a complaint against Saddam and his cousin Ali “Chemical Ali” al-Majid, who are among the seven defendants charged in Operation Anfal, a campaign to drive Kurds from sensitive areas near the Iranian border in the 1980s.The prosecution alleges that about 180 000 people were killed during the campaign.During the proceedings, a defiant Saddam clutched the Quran and insisted that the judge address him as the “president of Iraq.”Saddam’s chief lawyer, Iraqi Khalil al-Dulaimi, was not present, but attorneys for other defendants were on hand.Nampa-APA recent US Senate committee report found no link between Saddam and the terror network, despite carefully crafted White House statements that implied a role for the former Iraqi leader.That was used in part to justify the 2003 invasion that toppled him.During the morning session, Katreen Elias Mikhail, a Kurdish Christian and former militia fighter, said four Iraqi planes unleashed a wave of bombs on the evening of June 5 1987 on the town of Qalizewa, sending people fleeing for shelter.”I smelled something dirty and strange,” she told the court.Mikhail said she was stranded in an underground shelter with her friend Umm Ali and dozens of other people.”Then, I heard comrade Abu Elias shout ‘is there a doctor here?”‘ said the dignified-looking woman, her left hand trembling.”People were falling to the ground.They vomited and their eyes were blinded.We couldn’t see anything.””We were all afraid,” she said, her voice cracking.”It was our first time seeing bombs falling on our heads.”Sitting in the witness stand, she said that her friend, Nashme, told her that “the whole town was hit with chemical weapons.”When the smoke subsided, Mikhail said she saw some people with “burn wounds and they were blind.”Mikhail appeared to lodge a complaint against Saddam and his cousin Ali “Chemical Ali” al-Majid, who are among the seven defendants charged in Operation Anfal, a campaign to drive Kurds from sensitive areas near the Iranian border in the 1980s.The prosecution alleges that about 180 000 people were killed during the campaign.During the proceedings, a defiant Saddam clutched the Quran and insisted that the judge address him as the “president of Iraq.”Saddam’s chief lawyer, Iraqi Khalil al-Dulaimi, was not present, but attorneys for other defendants were on hand.Nampa-AP