Ali Hassan al-Majid, who faces the gallows if found guilty of slaughtering 182,000 Kurdish villagers in the 1980s, spoke from the dock with subdued calm, in contrast to angry tirades delivered by Saddam before his execution.

"Yes, I gave my instructions to consider these villages as prohibited areas and I gave orders to the troops to catch anyone they find there and execute them after investigating them," Majid told the court.

"I'm resposible for the displacement and I took this decision alone, without going back to the high military command or Baath party commander. I say that before your court and before God," he added.

But Majid, a former head of Iraq's northern command who owes his chilling nickname to accusations that he gassed thousands of Kurdish civilians, denied responsiblity for executing 300 Kurdish fighters.

Instead, he said, he had written a note to Saddam -- "Martyr, mercy on his soul" -- who pardoned them.

In audio recordings played by the prosecutor, Majid's voice could be heard branding all Kurds saboteurs and claiming to have received a letter from current Iraqi president and veteran Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani.

The letter, according to the voice, asked for talks and mooted concessions in exchange for a halt to government demolition of Kurdish villages.

Thursday's proceedings took place with Majid and his five co-defendants present in the high security Baghdad court, which convened for a second time since Saddam's hanging before adjourning until January 23.

Although defendants previously refused to occupy Saddam's former chair at the front of the dock, his cousin and one-time defence minister took up the hot seat on Thursday.

The court readjusted the seats, lining them up in three rows with Majid and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, former deputy chief of operations in the armed forces, in the front of the dock.

On Monday, the Iraqi High Tribunal dropped its charges against Saddam after he went to the gallows on December 30 for crimes against humanity for the deaths of 148 Shiite villagers in 1982 in revenge for an attempt on his life.

The ongoing genocide case centres on the killing of 182,000 Kurdish villagers during the so-called Anfal campaign between 1987 and 1988.

The six defendants have been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, which carries the death penalty, and with meticulously carrying out military attacks against the Kurds, some using chemical weapons.

The accused say the campaign was a vital counter-insurgency operation against Kurdish guerrillas who sided with the enemy during Iraq's devastating 1980-88 war with Iran.

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