Saddam Hussein today accused the chief judge in his genocide trial in Baghdad of violating the law by appointing defense attorneys against his wishes after the ex-president’s own lawyer walked out of the proceedings.

Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial resumed in Iraq today, four days after the chief judge told the ex-president that “you were not a dictator", sparking Kurdish demands he be replaced.

A 56-year-old Kurdish-American 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 today.

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 in Baghdad today after nearly a three-week break.

SURVIVORS yesterday told Saddam Hussein’s trial how poisonous clouds of gas killed children and blinded residents during a military offensive against Kurds in 1987.

Defendants in the new trial of Saddam Hussein today insisted that the military was attacking only Iranian troops and Kurdish rebels when it launched the Anfal campaign in the 1980s in which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed.

Violence-scarred Iraq enjoyed a rare day of relative peace today, as residents made special efforts to watch on television the opening of Saddam Hussein’s trial for genocide.

Saddam Hussein opened his second Baghdad trial with a show of defiance today, refusing to enter a plea on charges of genocide and war crimes connected to his scorched-earth offensive against Kurds nearly two decades ago.

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is set to face a second trial tomorrow - this time on charges of genocide and war crimes related to his scorched-earth offensive against Kurds two decades ago.

An Iraqi tribunal is incapable of fairly and effectively trying Saddam Hussein and six others on genocide charges for their role in the killing of an estimated 100,000 Kurds in the 1980s, a major human rights group said today.

Two defendants in the Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein made their closing arguments today, but the judge then adjourned for nearly two weeks in an attempt to resolve a boycott of the court by the former Iraqi leader and his lawyers.

The Iraqi High Tribunal today announced that Saddam Hussein and six co-defendants will be put on trial on August 21 for the 1980s Anfal campaign in which an estimated 100,000 Kurds were killed in northern Iraq.

An Iraq tribunal today announced new criminal charges against Saddam Hussein and six others in 1980s crackdown against the Kurds, including the gassing of thousands of civilians in the village of Halabja.

Iraq’s president said Saddam Hussein had confessed to killings and other “crimes” committed during his regime, including the massacre of thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s, and should be executed many times over.

A defiant Saddam Hussein rejected charges of war crimes and genocide in a court appearance in Baghdad today, telling a judge “this is all theatre, the real criminal is Bush”.

A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent has exploded in Iraq near a US military convoy, said a US military spokesman today.

Saddam Hussein’s government may have executed 61,000 Baghdad residents, a number significantly higher than previously believed, according to a survey today.