The Iraqi Special Tribunal said Friday that Saddam Hussein was questioned in a hearing for repressing Shiite uprisings in 1991.

The hearing on Thursday lasted about 45 minutes and Saddam answered questions concerning his repression on Shiite Muslims in 1991 and the crackdown on Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq, said Raid Jouhi, the chief judge of the Special Tribunal.

Saddam, the former Iraqi president who has remained in custody since being captured in 2003, has been formally charged with the massacre of about 140 Shiite Muslims in Dujail north of Baghdad in 1982 following a failed assassination attempt.

The trial date of Saddam is expected to be announced by the Special Tribunal within the coming days and the court is likely to start the trial next month, Jouhi said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2005)