Saddam ran human traffic chain, says trial witness

A WITNESS in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial has claimed the former leader's agents ran a human trafficking ring that sold his sister and other Kurdish women in the 1980s.

Abdul-Khaliq Qadir presented the court with newspaper reports that the intelligence department in the city of Kirkuk sold 18 women to Egypt's intelligence service.

The list included his sister's name as well as girls as young as 14, he said.

Defence lawyers and one of Saddam's co-defendants immediately challenged the claim, saying it was hearsay based on a forged document.

Saddam and six other defendants are on trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in a 1987-88 crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas.

The prosecution says about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, died in the offensive.

Saddam and one other defendant are also charged with genocide in the crackdown, which was codenamed Operation Anfal.

If convicted, all seven men could be sentenced to death by hanging. Earlier, Saddam accused the chief judge of preventing him from defending himself.