Saddam Hussein and six of his former commanders returned to a Baghdad court today to face charges of crimes against humanity over a military campaign against ethnic Kurds in the late 1980s.
Iraq's former dictator, who has already received the death penalty in another trial for his role in the killings of 148 Shia villagers after he escaped assassination in 1982, was last in court on November 8th.
Some lawyers in the defence team were present in the session, but Saddam's chief lawyer was absent. The defence has boycotted recent sessions in this trial.
Prosecutors say the 1988 Anfal - Spoils of War - campaign against Kurds included widespread use of chemical weapons, killed more than 180,000 people and destroyed hundreds of villages.