Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein argues with prosecutors while testifying during cross-examination in his trial in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone today. Saddam Hussein appeared in court today for questioning by judges and prosecutors in a new session of his trial on charges of killings of Shiites in the 1980s. He'll face separate charges of genocide in the deaths of about 100,000 Kurds.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein was cross-examined for the first time in his six-month-old trial today, saying he approved death sentences against Shiites in the 1980s because he believed the evidence had proven they were involved in an assassination attempt against him.

Standing alone as the sole defendant in the courtroom, Saddam dodged questions from prosecutors over his role in the crackdown, giving long speeches in which he called the court "illegitimate."

The session came a day after prosecutors indicted Saddam on separate charges of genocide, accusing him of trying to exterminate Kurds in a 1980s campaign that killed an estimated 100,000 people. The charges will be dealt with in a separate trial.

In the current trial, Saddam and seven former members of his regime are charged in a crackdown against Shiites launched after a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam in the town of Dujail. In the sweep that followed, 148 Shiites were killed and hundreds were imprisoned, some of them undergoing torture.

Al-Moussawi asked Saddam about his approval for death sentences passed against the Shiites by his Revolutionary Court, which prosecutors have argued gave them only a cursory trial.

"That is one of the duties of the president," Saddam replied. "I had the right to question the judgment. But I was convinced the evidence that was presented was sufficient" to show their guilt in the assassination attempt.

Al-Moussawi asked Saddam if he was aware that 28 of those sentenced to death were under 18 years old and presented identity cards for some of the killed minors. Prosecutors have earlier said an 11-year-old boy was among those killed.

Saddam replied that ID cards can easily be forged.

"You can buy IDs like this in the market," he said. "Is it the responsibility of the head of the state to check the IDs of defendants and see how old he is?"

Tuesday's indictment paves the way for a second trial of Saddam.

He and six other former regime members will be tried for Operation Anfal, the 1988 military campaign launched in the final months of the war with Iran to crush independence-minded Kurdish militias and clear Kurds from the sensitive Iranian border area of northern Iraq.

A memo released by the tribunal Tuesday said the Anfal campaign included "savage military attacks on civilians," including "the use of mustard gas and nerve agents ... to kill and maim rural villagers and to drive them out of their homes."

Operations against the Kurds included the March 1988 gas attack on the village of Halabja in which 5,000 people died. However, court spokesman Raid Juhi told The Associated Press that the Halabja attack would be prosecuted separately.