Iraq: second Saddam trial - in August

Charges in the case were announced in April and involve Saddam's alleged role in Operation Anfal, Arabic for "spoils of war," which was launched to crush independence-minded Kurdish militias and clear the Kurdish population sensitive Iranian border area.

Photo: Iraq: second Saddam trial - in August

Saddam had accused Kurdish militias of ties to Iran. Thousands of Kurdish villages were razed and their inhabitants either killed or displaced.

Others accused in the Anfal case include Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan Majid, or "Chemical Ali;" former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad; former intelligence chief Saber Abdul Aziz al-Douri; former Republican Guard commander Hussein al-Tikriti; former Nineveh provincial Gov. Taher Tafwiq al-Ani; and former top military commander Farhan Mutlaq al-Jubouri, the AP reports.