TRIBUNAL FORMALLY CHARGES SADDAM HUSSEIN

Iraq's special tribunal laid the first formal charges against Saddam Hussein for crimes committed during his 25-year rule and a date for his trial may be announced "within days", the tribunal said.
Its chief investigating judge, Raed Jouhi, told a news conference in Baghdad that Saddam and three others had been charged with the killings of Shi'ite Muslims in the village of Dujail in 1982. The other defendants are Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam’s half- brother and former head of Iraq’s intelligence service; Taha Yasin Ramadan, former vice president; and Awad Hamad al-Bander, former chief judge of Saddam’s Revolutionary Court.
The Dujail case relates to the killing of an estimated 140 residents after an attempt to assassinate Saddam as his convoy passed through the village, 60km north of Baghdad.
The case was seen as relatively minor compared to accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity that had also been leveled at the former president. But investigators said it may be easier to prove Saddam's personal culpability in the smaller case, leading to a swift conviction and possible death sentence.