Hussein Charges Whittled Down

Seeking to expedite Saddam Hussein’s prosecution, Iraq will put the former dictator on trial in connection with 12 of the best-documented crimes among more than 500 allegedly committed by the former Iraqi dictator, a key official said Sunday.

Laith Kubba, spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, said the government was confident that court proceedings in the case would begin within two months.

“There should be no objection that a trial should take place within that time,” Kubba said at a news conference. “It is the government’s view that the trial of Saddam should take place as soon as possible.”

Kubba said prosecutors had narrowed their case to focus on 12 charges, including the gassing of the Kurdish town of Halabja, where an estimated 5,000 people were killed and 10,000 injured on March 16, 1988.

“There is no time to waste on 500 cases,” Kubba said.

Hussein, who ruled Iraq from 1979 until his ouster by U.S. forces in April 2003, was captured eight months after the fall of his government.

Last July, he was arraigned in Baghdad on several broad counts.

These included the assassination of political opponents, the gassing in Halabja, invading Kuwait in 1990 and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite uprisings in 1991.

For nearly a year, however, it has been unclear when he would be tried and what the specific charges would be.