The trial of Saddam Hussein and six others on charges of genocide against the Kurdish people resumed on Thursday with all defendants present and court-appointed defence lawyers on hand.
Testimony immediately began on atrocities allegedly committed by Saddam's forces in the course of the 1988 Anfal campaign against the rebellious Kurds in the north of the country.
Thursday's session is the 18th of a trial that has seen chilling testimony of gas attacks against villages, brutal prison conditions and late night massacres in the desert.