US Secretary of State Colin Powell visited a mass grave Monday to highlight perhaps the single biggest human-rights abuse of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's brutal regime -- the chemical weapons murder of some 5,000 people in March 1988.
Powell flew here from Baghdad to take part in the formal dedication of a memorial and museum to commemorate those who lost their lives here 15 years ago.
Powell traveled in a military C-130 transport aircraft to Kirkuk, then transferred to a helicopter, flying over dusty plains and barren hills to get to this Kurdish-dominated town.
The Halabja massacre has been cited repeatedly by US President George W. Bush as an example of Saddam's brutality.
Halabja lies on the southern fringe of Iraqi Kurdistan, near the Iranian border. Some 5,000 Kurds died there when they were attacked with bombs carrying mustard gas and other poisonous gases on March 16, 1988, part of a scorched-earth campaign to wipe out a Kurdish rebellion in northern Iraq.
Many of those attending the ceremony lost seven to 10 family members in the slaughter.
Powell stood before long rows of simple headstones where the remains of more than 1,000 victims of the conquered regime lie.
He told the gathering of several hundred: "I can't tell you that Saddam Hussein was a murderous tyrant -- you know that. What I can tell you is that what happened here in 1988 is never going to happen again."
His remarks drew enthusiastic cheers and applause.
Powell added that Saddam is "running and hiding. He's going to be running until we catch him or he dies."
Many who attended the ceremony under a hot midday sun carried signs praising the US for ousting Saddam. "Thank you President Bush for liberating Iraq," said one. "Halabja is proud to host Secretary Powell," read another.
Also addressing the gathering was Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He said the mass graves in Halabja "validate the morality of your intervention. ... Like [Adolf] Hitler, the Butcher of Baghdad miscalculated."
Many in attendance were women, clad in black and carrying pictures of family members killed in the attack. When Powell mixed with the crowd after his brief remarks, many broke into tears as he approached and thrust bouquets of flowers at him.
Later, Powell and his party drove to the museum for the dedication ceremony. Surrounded by black marble circular walls bearing the names in Kurdish of those who perished, Powell lit candles in their memory.
According to a State Department account of the attack on Halabja, Saddam's air force dropped sarin gas and other deadly chemicals on the city, immediately killing 5,000 people and injuring 10,000 others. Choking victims were unable to escape the gas and many bodies were found alongside the local water source, a reflection of a vain effort to quench their thirst, the account said.
"Entire families of victims were found dead in their homes and in the streets curled up together, and many homes were destroyed in the bombardment," the summary said.
On Sunday in Baghdad, Powell spent 12 hours in talks with the team of American officials guiding Iraq in the postwar period and with the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. He also attended a Baghdad City Council meeting, met with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and joined the US administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, at a joint news conference.
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