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Kurd genocide trial resumes as charges against Saddam dropped

BAGHDAD, Jan 8, 2007 (AFP) - The trial of six former Iraqi officials over the mass killing of 182,000 Kurdish villagers in the 1980s resumed Monday but without their executed co-accused Saddam Hussein.

The Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) also dropped all legal procedures against Saddam, chief judge of the trial Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah said at the start of the session.

"The court received a letter from the IHT on January 7 concerning the execution of defendant Saddam Hussein," the judge said.

"The court has decided to stop legal procedures against defendant Saddam Hussein, according to article 304 of the Iraqi criminal procedure law issued in 1971."

Saddam was executed on December 30 after being found guilty of crimes against humanity in a separate trial.