Saddam Discussed Killing Thousands of Kurds in 1980's

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Saddam Hussein had been dead nine days but his voice resounded through the courtroom Monday as he and his cousin "Chemical Ali" discussed killing thousands of Kurds in the 1980s, according to audiotapes played at their war crimes trial.

Saddam's masterful physical presence was gone — his chair in the white metal pen where the defendants sit was empty — but his aura still hung over the proceedings against his former regime members.

The so-called Anfal trial reconvened Monday for the first time since Dec. 21 and just more than a week since Saddam was hanged in a chaotic execution for the killing of 148 Shiites after an assassination attempt in the town of Dujail in 1982.

The court's first order of business was to dismiss all charges against Saddam. His co-defendants — including his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" — remain in the dock for allegedly killing 180,000 Kurds in the 1980s as Iraq fought a protracted war with neighboring Iran.

Prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon aired graphic video during Monday's court session of scores of bodies in trucks and in piles on the street, overlaid with a voice purported to be that of al-Majid saying "I will hit them with chemical weapons."

"Damn the international community if they say anything. I will strike them all with chemical weapons," the voice continued.

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Another audiotape had the alleged voice of Saddam warning, "These weapons are only used at my orders." He also reassures colleagues that the weapons "kill by the thousands."

"It will force them out of their homes without water or food. It makes them evacuate their homes naked," the voice said.

Al-Majid described the video as "painful" but said it showed the work of Iranian troops, not Iraqis. As for the audio, al-Majid did not deny that the voices were his and Saddam's.

The tapes "not only condemn me, but the whole path that I was part of — the path of Saddam Hussein," al-Majid said without elaborating.

Legal experts said they hoped Saddam's six co-defendants would be more forthcoming with the dictator no longer listening in, and al-Majid's cryptic testimony many have indicated that he, at least, might be ready to talk more freely about what happened.

Legal scholar Tariq Harb said the trial could make more progress without Saddam, who at times during the trial sat quietly glaring at witnesses and at other times launched nationalists tirades that got him thrown out of court.

"The trial will be more elastic and easy. It will clarify and expose more facts because Saddam Hussein's disappearance from the dock will encourage other defendants to mention some facts that they were afraid to divulge when he was with them," Harb said.

Aside from al-Majid, the Anfal co-defendants are former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim al-Tai, who was the commander of Task Force Anfal and head of the Iraqi army 1st Corps; Sabir al-Douri, Saddam's military intelligence chief; Taher Tawfiq al-Ani, former governor of Mosul and head of the Northern Affairs Committee; Hussein Rashid Mohammed, former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi Armed Forces and Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, former head of military intelligence's eastern regional office.

When al-Majid first took his seat in the court, he tried to turn on his microphone to speak publicly. The judge quickly shut it off.

Al-Faroon also presented a document allegedly signed by al-Ani, calling for the execution of 10 members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party headed by current Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Al-Ani later denied the handwriting was his.

"This is not my signature and I'm sure of that," he told the court.

The trial adjourned until Thursday, Jan. 11.

Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com's Iraq Center.