Kurds mark 1988 attack

HALABJA, IRAQ — Traffic stopped and people stood silent in the rain Friday as Kurds in northern Iraq commemorated the anniversary of a 1988 attack with nerve and mustard gas that killed an estimated 5,000 people.

Saddam Hussein ordered the attack as part of a scorched-earth campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the north, which was seen as aiding Iran in the final months of a war between Iraq and its neighbor. Hussein was executed last year for other crimes before he could face trial over the killings in Halabja.

Hundreds of victims' relatives and local officials also gathered in the city hall in Halabja, 150 miles northeast of Baghdad, and lighted 19 candles to symbolize the 19 years since the massacre.

"Each year on this day, I remember the vicious attack," said Tuba Abid, who lost 22 relatives.