Saddam genocide trial prosecutor says tapes prove guilt for gas attacks News
Saddam genocide trial prosecutor says tapes prove guilt for gas attacks

[JURIST] The chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial [JURIST news archive] said Sunday that audio tapes and documentation proving that Hussein personally ordered the 1988 gassing of Kurdish villagers will be submitted to the court hearing his case. Munqith al-Faroon told Reuters that he possesses tapes of meetings between Saddam and senior Baathist officials revealing that Hussein had sole authority over the use of the chemical weapons which were deployed in the "Anfal" campaigns that led to the deaths of 180,000 Kurds. Faroon also claimed to have documents signed by Hussein ordering the attacks. The court, which reconvenes Monday after a three-week adjournment [JURIST report], will review the material to determine if it is admissible as evidence. Reuters has more.

Hussein was sentenced to death [JURIST report] earlier this month in a separate trial for crimes against humanity [charging instrument, PDF] committed in the Iraqi town of Dujail after an unsuccessful attempt on his life there in 1982. An appeals panel is expected to rule [JURIST report] on its review of that case by mid-January 2007.

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