Saddam Hussein was today formally charged with crimes against humanity, including torture of women and children, murder and the illegal arrest of 399 people in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s. A defiant Saddam refused to enter a plea.

A female witness, testifying at Saddam Hussein’s trial, said she was stripped naked in prison, hung by her feet and kicked in the chest by the former Iraqi leader’s half brother.

Secret documents discovered in Baghdad are evidence of a direct link between Saddam Hussein’s regime and Osama bin Laden’s al Qaida terrorist network, according to a report today.