BAGHDAD, Iraq — A Kurdish judge will take charge temporarily of the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants in the 1982 massacre of more than 140 Shiites, an Iraqi official said today.

Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman will replace existing chief judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin, also a Kurd, who submitted a letter of resignation on Jan. 15, said Raid Juhi, the chief investigator who prepared evidence for the Dujail case.