[JURIST] Saddam Hussein sought to bar testimony of an American forensic scientist during proceedings at his genocide trial [JURIST news archive] Tuesday, demanding a neutral witness from a country that was not involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The chief judge allowed the expert, Clyde Snow [profile], to testify about a mass grave he encountered in the northern Iraqi town of Koreme. Snow told the court that Iraqi forces killed 27 Kurdish men and boys there in 1988 as part of the Anfal campaigns [HRW backgrounder].

Hussein was sentenced to death [JURIST report] earlier this month for crimes against humanity [charging instrument, PDF] committed in the Iraqi town of Dujail [JURIST news archive; BBC trial timeline]. An appeals panel is expected to rule [JURIST report] on the verdict and sentence by mid-January 2007. Prosecutors hope to complete the Anfal trial before Hussein is executed. AP has more.