Saddam's genocide trial revives Kurd anger

The imprisoned strongman has been exercising and eating well in preparation for his appointment with the Iraqi High Tribunal, according to US officials, but he is not alone in awaiting the day with keen anticipation.

"I am waiting patiently to see him in court so that I can quench my thirst to see him humiliated," said Kurdish villager Abdullah Mohammed, who blames Saddam for the killing of his three daughters and his three brothers.

Saddam's second trial will see him and six co-defendants face a raft of charges related to the 1987-1988 Anfal campaign by Iraqi forces, in which an estimated 100,000 Kurds were slaughtered and 3,000 villages razed.

Proceedings are expected to last until the end of the year, unless they are interrupted by the results of the first case against Saddam over the killing of 148 Shia villagers from Dujail after an attempt on his life in 1982.

Judges in the Dujail case are due to announce their verdict on October 16. If Saddam is found guilty, he could be given the death penalty.

If so, he would have an automatic right of appeal, but if he loses he could face a noose before the Anfal trial is complete.

The case against Saddam's co-defendants, former senior security officials in his regime, would continue however, as prosecutors seek to make the terrible events of 1988 at matter of legal record and heal some of Iraq's wounds.

"The evidence will essentially consist of the testimony of the complainants, testimony of witnesses, and a documentary phase," a US official close to the case said on condition of anonymity.

"There are a lot of documents in this case that truly connect the defendants of this case to the actions of the Anfal -- very appalling evidence consisting of mass graves where people where taken out to the desert and executed."