Saddam charged with genocide

The week's news at a glance.

Baghdad

The Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam Hussein charged him this week with attempting genocide against the Kurdish minority during the 1980s. Some 100,000 Kurds, many of them women and children, were killed in a series of massacres, including the notorious 1988 poison-gas attack at Halabja. Several others were also charged, including Ali Hassan al-Majid, aka “Chemical Ali,” a senior Baath Party official accused of overseeing chemical weapons. Saddam already faces the death penalty if found guilty in his current trial, for the 1982 murder of 148 Shiites in Dujail. But many Iraqis, including President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, say they want Saddam to stay alive long enough to face trials for all his ill deeds.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us