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Saddam Hussein the President of Iraq stepped into an Iraqi court and entered a new chapter in Iraq´s history, hearing preliminary charges against him that included the gassing of Kurds and the invasion of Kuwait.
Appearing before a judge in a 30-minute hearing, Saddam looked thin and downcast, but became animated and at times combative as proceedings unfolded.
When he was ushered into the court, the judge asked him his name and twice he said, "I am Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq."
The former dictator listened to seven preliminary charges outlined in his arrest warrant - the killing of religious figures in 1974; gassing of Kurds in Halabja in 1988; killing the Kurdish Barzani clan in 1983; killing members of political parties in the last 30 years; the 1986-88 "Anfal" campaign of displacing Kurds; the suppression of the 1991 uprisings by Kurds and Shiites; and the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
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