Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to be charged with genocide over a 1980s campaign against the Kurds, an Iraqi tribunal has announced. Saddam Hussein and six others face new charges over a crackdown known as the Anfal campaign, which included the gassing of the Kurdish town of Halabja. Human rights groups say 180,000 civilians died in the Anfal campaign. Saddam and seven others are already on trial for the deaths of 148 people in Dujail after an assassination attempt. "We declare the investigations are completed in the case called the Anfal campaign in which thousands of men and women were killed. The accused are being transferred to the criminal court," court spokesman Raid Juhi said as he made the announcement.
Saddam's co-accused include his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali for his role in the poison gas attack on Halabja in 1988, in which 5,000 people died. The others facing charges are former defence minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed and high ranking Baathists Saber Abdel Aziz, Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, Taher Mohammed al-Ani and Farhan al-Juburi.
Mr Juhi said the charges against the former president and his co-accused had been filed with a judge, who will review the evidence and order a trial date. Correspondents say it is not clear whether the trial will run in parallel to the Dujail trial or after it. The announcement comes a day before the Dujail trial - over the killing of 148 people in the Shia village of Dujail in 1982 - was set to resume.