Second Saddam trial to start Aug 21: Prosecutor

Baghdad, June 27: The second trial of Saddam Hussein, for genocide against Kurds in northern Iraq in the 1980s, will start on August 21, prosecutors at the Special Tribunal said.

''The Anfal trial will start on August 21,'' Munkidh al-Fetlawi told Reuters.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told Reuters Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as ''Chemical Ali'', would also stand trial in the case. In total there would be seven people on trial, including a former defence minister.

Majeed is accused of playing a leading role in the campaign, known as Anfal, in which thousands of Kurds were killed and their villages destroyed.

Saddam is already on trial in connection with the killing of 148 Shi'ites in the town of Dujail after an attempt on his life there in 1982.

The trial is drawing to a close and his defence lawyers are due to sum up on July 10. A verdict may not come until September, officials close to the court have said.

Reuters