Saddam Hussein's cousin said Wednesday he had nothing to apologize for after prosecutors in his genocide trial presented memos they said implicated him in the killing of ethnic Kurds.

Prosecutors presented intelligence documents they said detailed orders Ali Hassan al-Majeed gave to raze villages, detain families and carry out summary executions.

Majeed is on trial with five other former senior Baath party officials for their roles in the 1988 Anfal (Spoils of War) campaign. Charges against Saddam himself lapsed when he was executed at the end of December.

Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali" for his alleged use of chemical weapons, has already said he ordered troops to execute all Kurds who ignored orders to leave their villages.

Among more than 20 intelligence agency memos presented in court Wednesday was one reporting that the entire family of a Kurdish fighter named Taha Ahmed had been killed in the aerial bombardment of a Kurdish village.

"With all these documents in the case, I would ask the Iraqi people for forgiveness if it was me," chief prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon told the court.

"I didn't do anything wrong to apologize for," Majeed replied. "If I did anything wrong to any Iraqi, I swear to God I would apologize to him with pleasure."

Majeed faces a possible death sentence if found guilty.

The next hearing is set for Sunday.

(China Daily via agencies January 25, 2007)