An investigative judge will file new criminal charges against Saddam Hussein in the next few days charging him in the deaths and deportation of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s, a government prosecutor said Sunday.

Saddam Hussein listens at court while his attorneys argue his case in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 15, 2006. Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for torture, illegal arrests and the killing of nearly 150 people from Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam in the town. Saddam Hussein testified Wednesday for the first time at his trial, calling on Iraqis to stop a bloody wave of sectarian violence and instead fight American troops, prompting the chief judge to close the courtroom, saying he was making political speeches. [AP\File]

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said the new charges would involve Saddam's alleged role in "Operation Anfal," which included the 1988 gassing of about 5,000 Kurdish civilians in the village of Halabja.

In all, Kurds maintain that more than 180,000 of their people were killed in the operation, which began in 1987 and ended a year later. Hundreds of Kurdish villages in northern Iraq were destroyed and thousands were forced to leave their homes.

Al-Moussawi did not specify when the charges would be filed, but the Iraqi court which handles cases against the ousted ruler announced a news conference for Tuesday.

Under Iraqi law, an investigator reviews allegations against a defendant and forward a recommendation to another judge, who determines if the evidence warrants a trial. If the second judge finds the evidence compelling, then a trial is set at least 45 days from the date of the referral.

The referral process is tantamount to an indictment.

Eight others are under investigation for their roles in Operation Anfal. They include Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali"; former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim; and Saber al-Douri, the head of the intelligence service at the time.

Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for allegedly massacring more than 140 people in Dujail, north of Baghdad, after an assassination attempt against him there in 1982. If found guilty, Saddam could face execution.

The Dujail trial is the first of around a dozen cases prosecutors intend to bring against Saddam and members of his inner circle in an attempt to bring accounting for a 23-year regime that saw tens of thousands of its own people killed and imprisoned.

Other cases include the killing of members of political and religious parties, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the suppression of uprisings by Kurds and Shiites in 1991.