Forensics Evidence

The court conducting Saddam Hussein's trial heard from Michael Trimble (a US forensic expert) this week, about the mass graves from the Anfal campaign.

The graves contained the corpses of hundreds of Kurdish women and children.

Mr Trimble said that the victims had been killed in a "highly organised programme of execution".

Mr Trimble, who heads the Mass Graves Investigation Team, said that our of 301 bodies found, 183 were those of children (90% being under 13 years old).

Quote:

"The captives were often bound and blindfolded. The captives were led into the grave and then executed with pistols or automatic assault rifle fire. The graves were then covered by those directing the execution."

The court was shown slides of a child whose legs were cut in half by a bullet. Another child had wounds to the front and back.

Mr Trimble said:

"It is very clear these people were twisting as they were getting shot at.

There is a terror that takes over as people try to get out of the way. It's a very common human response."

Saddam Hussein responded by saying:

"Let me suggest the court consider what is said by the American expert but also call a new trial expert that has nothing to do with the enemy or the army of the enemy."

The trial will resume on Monday.

Defence Lawyer Ejected

Saddam Hussein's defence lawyer, Badie Arif Ezzat, was ejected from court yesterday in another chaotic shambles.

Chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa ejected him for "insulting the court".

Badie Arif Ezzat was ejected after he tried to object to the foreign experts that the prosecution has called in to testify over the past two days. When he referred to the prosecution and judges as "brother", rather than by their titles, the chief judge warned him to respect the court.

However, Ezzat repeated the phrase and al-Khalifa ordered him removed and detained for 24 hours for "insulting the court."

There then followed a brief shouting match between the two, as guards escorted Ezzat out of the room.

The farce of a trial continues.

Trial Resumes

Saddam Hussein's trial resumed yesterday.

The court heard from two US residents who described how they survived shooting.

Taimor Abdallah Rokhzai described how, nearly twenty years ago, he watched as his mother and sisters were shot to death.

Quote:

"There was a trench. We were lined up. A soldier shot directly at us. I was hit on my shoulder."

Rokhzai now lives in Washington, said that during the shooting:

"I begged the soldier 'We are women and children. Why are you shooting us?'

I saw bullets hitting a woman's head and her brain coming out. I saw a pregnant woman shot and killed. It was horrible.

The shooting suddenly stopped. It was quiet. I was waiting to die. My whole body was covered with blood. The soldiers then went away. They were talking among themselves. I wanted to go to out from the trench. But a little girl asked me where I was going. I don't know her name but she was alive."

Rokhzai said he passed many trenches filled with bodies.

He kept on walking and that night he saw a tent with a light, where he was offered shelter. He moved from village to village until 1991, when the Kurdish autonomous zone was established under the protection of US and British forces.

Yunis Haji, a former Kurdish guerrilla fighter who now lives in Virginia, described a separate incident involving trenches full of dead people.

"Handcuffed and blindfolded, we (Kurdish detainees) were loaded into vehicles and taken to a remote area and dragged out.

I was pushed into a trench and was told to sit there. Suddenly, I was hit in the back. I fell unconscious, and when I woke up again, I pulled myself out of the trench and started running."

Chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa gave the defence team a further two days to submit a list of witnesses.

"You already had 20 days. I will give you two more days. No more and no less."

The trial continues today.