The Iraqi high criminal court reconvened in a new session Monday to continue hearing testimonies of witnesses in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein and six of his aides. All the defendants were present in the court headed by judge Mohammad al-Oreibi while the defence team boycotted the trial, the news agency "DPA" reported. Saddam and six of his former associates are being tried for war crimes allegedly committed during the 1987-1988 Anfal campaign, in which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed. Saddam and one of his co-defendants were formally thrown out of the court room in the previous session of the trial, after a row with the newly-appointed chief judge Mohammad al-Oreibi. That was the third time in a row the former Iraqi dictator was expelled from the court under the new judge.
