Saddam Hussein and six former commanders go on trial in Baghdad today on charges of killing tens of thousands of Kurdish villagers in a genocidal campaign that devastated northern Iraq 18 years ago. Also on trial is Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for allegedly ordering poison gas attacks. As in a separate ongoing trial, Saddam is likely to plead not guilty and say the deaths were a legitimate state response to attacks by Kurdish guerrillas allied with Iran. Judges are considering their verdict in the other case involving the killing of 148 Shi'ite Muslim men following a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam in the town of Dujail. In the new trial Saddam and six others are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Anfal campaign, from February to August 1988. Saddam and Majid also face the additional graver charge of genocide. The 69-year-old former leader faces a dozen or so trials, including a separate case over the deaths of some 5,000 Kurds in one specific gas attack on the town of Halabja in March 1988.