Saddam Hussein and six former army commanders went on trial in Baghdad on Monday on charges of killing tens of thousands of Kurdish villagers in a campaign that devastated northern Iraq in 1988.

The ousted Iraqi leader initially refused to identity himself to the court and after being pressed to do so he lashed out at judge Abdallah al-Ameri, accusing him of working on behalf of the US forces which invaded Iraq in March 2003.

"You are here in the name of the occupier not in the name of Iraq. My name is known to Iraqis and to the world," Saddam declared, speaking clearly and in a strong voice.

He introduced himself as "Saddam Hussein, the President of the Republic of Iraq and the commander-in-chief of the Mujahedeen (the Iraqi armed forces)”.

Defiant Saddam

But when the time came to enter a plea, Saddam refused, and the judge ordered that a plea of "innocent" be entered into the record.

One of Saddam's co-defendants is his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for allegedly ordering poison gas attacks.

The ousted president, who is awaiting a verdict in another trial on charges of killing 148 Shia Muslim men and boys, is likely to challenge the legitimacy of the special tribunal by saying it was created under US occupation.

The seven defendants face charges for their role in military offensives codenamed Anfal - the Spoils of War - after the title of a chapter of the Koran.

Iraqi forces are accused of launching mustard gas and nerve agent attacks in the Anfal campaign, seen as one of the most potent symbols of Kurdish suffering under Saddam.

Grave charges

All seven accused face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the seven-month onslaught. Saddam and Majid face the additional, graver charge of genocide, which also carries the death penalty.

Many villages were razed and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced or killed.

Saddam and his co-accused are likely to argue that their crackdown was justified because Kurdish rebels and their leaders had committed treason by forming alliances with arch-enemy Iran.

US and Iraqi officials had hoped the first trial against Saddam, for the killings of Shia members in the town of Dujail after an attempt on his life there, would lead to swift justice.

But the trial has been marred by the killings of three defence lawyers and the resignation of the chief judge to protest against what he said was government interference.

Photo Caption

Saddam Hussein