US investigators preparing for war crimes trials against Saddam Hussein and his former aides have discovered a mass grave site in Hatra, which is thought to contain bodies of several thousand Kurds in nine separate trenches. Hatra is the first of 10 sites that will be exhumed for forensic, photographic and written evidence of atrocities committed under Saddam's regime. Greg Kehoe, head of the excavation team and former US federal prosecutor, said "it is my personal opinion that this is a killing field. Someone used this field on significant occasions over time to take bodies up there, and to take people up there and execute them." Saddam and his former deputies will be tried by the Iraqi Special Tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity. Thursday's Guardian has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on Saddam and background on the tribunal.