Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein returned to court to face trial on genocide against Kurds on Tuesday, two days after being sentenced to hang in a separate trial, and urged Iraqis "to forgive, reconcile and shake hands."

Saddam and two of his senior aides were on Sunday sentenced to death on crimes against humanity in the trial of Dujail, in which 148 people were executed in the aftermath crackdown on the town following a failed assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.

In Tuesday's trial, Saddam and six former senior aides are facing charges of genocide for their roles in the 1988 Anfal (Spoils of War) military campaign against ethnic Kurds. Prosecutors say up to 180,000 Kurds were killed, many of them by gas.

Chief Judge Muhammed Ureybi begun the session and called the first witness, Qahhar Khalil Mohammad, 52, who was forced to live in a den with his seven-member family because the Iraqi army destroyed their village in 1986.

Mohammad and other Kurdish witnesses told the court that they were deceived by the government promises of amnesty and many of their fellow Kurds only got shot by the Iraqi soldiers.

He said that he and many people surrendered themselves to the authorities after a government amnesty, but only to find themselves ended up in a military camp.

"One Iraqi army officer gathered 37 detainees, including me, and ordered the soldiers to shoot us," Mohammad said.

"A soldier then shot everyone with a bullet. He hit me on my forehead and my back," the witness said, showing his scars to the court, adding "I want the whole world to see my wounds."

The witness continued his testimony, saying that after the soldiers left the scene, he checked his father and two brothers, but they were dead. Only his nephew was still alive, so he took the latter's hand and fled the place, he said.

Mohammad said that he and many others were detained later and were held in a camp for three years before they were released by another amnesty.

During the session, the first after he was found guilty in the separate case of Dujail, Saddam appeared unusually calm and he quietly listened to witnesses. After the first witness' testimony, he complained that the court should adequately cross-examine the witnesses.

Saddam also challenged the witness. "When he says there are two officers, what do they look like? Does this bring us to the truth?" Saddam politely addressed judge Ureybi.

Ureybi approved the demand but said it is for the court to decide which testimony to take into consideration.

Another witness, Abdul-Karim Nayif Hassan, also told the court that they were deceived by promises of amnesty, and were dragged to mass killing by the Iraqi soldiers. He submitted a video showing human remains in a mass grave found near his village after the Kurds gained self-rule in 1991.

A third witness, Abu Bakr Ali Sa'id, 54, a member of the Kurdish guerrilla (Peshmerga) gave account of the same incident when Iraqi soldiers killed detainees near his village.

"The soldiers were ordered to shoot us. We were 33 people, only six survived and I was one of them but we were also wounded," he said.

The witness said that Saddam was describing the Kurdish people as "saboteurs", which prompted Saddam to request the Judge Ureybi to verify the claim.

"All my writings, speeches and government decisions were recorded in the former Information Ministry. I don't recall that I have said any thing wrong against any group of my people," Saddam said.

Saddam then called for reconciliation among Iraqis saying, "I call on Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands," Saddam said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2006)