Baghdad: An investigative judge will file new criminal charges against Saddam Hussein in the next few days charging him in the deaths and deportation of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s, a government prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said the new charges, which would be announced "in the coming days," would involve Saddam's alleged role in "Operation Anfal," which included the 1988 gassing of about 5,000 Kurdish civilians in the village of Halabja.
In all, Kurds maintain that more than 180,000 of their people were killed in Anfal, which began in 1987 and ended a year later. Hundreds of Kurdish villages in northern Iraq were destroyed and thousands were forced to leave their homes.
Under Iraqi law, an investigator reviews allegations against a defendant and forwards a recommendation to another judge, who determines if the evidence warrants a trial. If the second judge finds the evidence compelling, then a trial is set at least 45 days from the date of the referral.
The referral process is tantamount to an indictment.
Eight others are under investigation for their roles in Operation Anfal. They include Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as "Chemical Ali;" former Defence Minister Sultan Hashim; and Saber al-Douri, the head of the intelligence service at the time of Anfal.
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