.05: This memorial in Halabja, Northern Iraq, stands as an ongoing reminder for Kurds of the worst excesses of Saddam Husseins brutal regime.
0.14: Halabja has become a byword for the war of extermination Saddam waged against his own population. In 1988 Saddam flattened this town with chemical weapons in an attempt to keep the Iraqi Kurds under control.
0.24: Some 5000 gravestones remember those who lost their life on 16 March 1988. Most of them were women and children.
0.40: Writer Hasan Akram is a Kurd, who now lives in Berlin.
0.52: Shortly after the end of the Iraq war, in April 2003, Akram returned to Halabja for the first time in 30 years. Now hes come back again.
1.02: At the entrance to the city, a museum has been opened to the memory of the 1988 poison gas victims.
1.12: Two of Hasans brothers died in the attack. They had been visiting relatives when the attack occurred.
1.30: Last year Hassan was unable to find any relatives. Now hes trying again.
1.46: At first he once more is out of luck.
2.01: # OT # 0,13 # OT # Hasan Akram (German)
2.16: A man finally recognises his surname and turns him onto on a social worker who is also called Akram.
2.26: At the cemetery the two meet one another.
2.33: 42 of Aras Abid Akrams relatives are buried here - all victims of the gas attack.
His family plot is one of the first in the cemetery.
It turns out that one of Hasan Akrams aunts is married to one of Aras Abid Akrams cousins.
2.50: His memory of Wednesday, 16 March 1988 is still vivid.
3.00: It was approaching half past eleven. The family is meeting up for lunch, when 22 year old Aras notices two of his younger brothers are not there:
3.13: OT # 0,28 # OT # Aras Abid Akram (Kurdish)
3.16: (leisurely, carried)"We were wondering where they had got to. After a while, I went to look for them. I came a cross them on a dirt road. Suddenly we heard a humming of airplanes. Then there was an enormous explosion. Shrapnell pierced me all over my body. I thought: This is the end"!
3.42: Pictures of the attack are logged in the Kurdish TV archives. It took place in three stages: First the Iraqi army fired mortars on the city. Then planes dropped napalm, before being followed in the afternoon with nerve and mustard gas attacks.
.00: # OT # 0,29 # OT # Aras Abid Akram (Kurdish) 4.02: "A few of us were heavily injured. We crawled into a hiding place and were hit by a strange smell. It smelled like natural gas, like youd use for a gas stove. Our skin began to itch horribly and became red. Then the smell of the gas changed: first it smelled like garlic, then apples. I didnt have a clue what could smell like that".
4.28: An Iraqi government spokesman stated after the attack that the residents of Halabja were being punished for failing to resist Iran. Iranian soldiers were, at that point in time, preparing to take Halabja.
4.45: One picture became the icon of the massacre. It showed Omar Chawar and his son. Omar Chawar was a baker, father of had six daughters and this boy, Shivar.
5:03:
Thousands fled towards the Iranian border; many died on the way. The lucky ones were treated by Iranian doctors once they had crossed into Iran. Many of the survivors are scarred for life.
5.25: # OT # 0,25 # OT # Aras Abid Akram (Kurdish)"Every time I breathe I get pains in my chest. My eyes burn like fires. And psychologically I am also very unstable. The tiniest things tip me over the edge. If one of my sons speaks too loud for example, sometimes I go stark raving mad. Ive also completely lost my sense of smell, and have very weak tastebuds too.
.47: Aras and Hasan have a lot to catch up on. The guest from Berlin plans to spend a lot of time with his relatives.
5.57: The cemetery of Halabja is today a central meeting place for young and old.
The consequences of the poison gas attack are everywhere. Half the population has some kind of breathing problem.
6.11: The cancer rate is twice as high as in the rest of the country... Many children are born with cleft palates.
6.18: Like eleven year old Sarkan. He has already had several surgical procedures, and needs several more. They just dont have the money.
6:40: At first sight, there is little evidence of the disaster that befell Halabja. People here have struggled their way back to some semblance of normality. Saddam Hussein is now finally history. But his chemical time bomb continues to tick...
Reporter: Rainer Mostbauer
Camera: Robert Reinprecht
Editor: Peter Weiss
0.14: Halabja has become a byword for the war of extermination Saddam waged against his own population. In 1988 Saddam flattened this town with chemical weapons in an attempt to keep the Iraqi Kurds under control.
0.24: Some 5000 gravestones remember those who lost their life on 16 March 1988. Most of them were women and children.
0.40: Writer Hasan Akram is a Kurd, who now lives in Berlin.
0.52: Shortly after the end of the Iraq war, in April 2003, Akram returned to Halabja for the first time in 30 years. Now hes come back again.
1.02: At the entrance to the city, a museum has been opened to the memory of the 1988 poison gas victims.
1.12: Two of Hasans brothers died in the attack. They had been visiting relatives when the attack occurred.
1.30: Last year Hassan was unable to find any relatives. Now hes trying again.
1.46: At first he once more is out of luck.
2.01: # OT # 0,13 # OT # Hasan Akram (German)
2.16: A man finally recognises his surname and turns him onto on a social worker who is also called Akram.
2.26: At the cemetery the two meet one another.
2.33: 42 of Aras Abid Akrams relatives are buried here - all victims of the gas attack.
His family plot is one of the first in the cemetery.
It turns out that one of Hasan Akrams aunts is married to one of Aras Abid Akrams cousins.
2.50: His memory of Wednesday, 16 March 1988 is still vivid.
3.00: It was approaching half past eleven. The family is meeting up for lunch, when 22 year old Aras notices two of his younger brothers are not there:
3.13: OT # 0,28 # OT # Aras Abid Akram (Kurdish)
3.16: (leisurely, carried)"We were wondering where they had got to. After a while, I went to look for them. I came a cross them on a dirt road. Suddenly we heard a humming of airplanes. Then there was an enormous explosion. Shrapnell pierced me all over my body. I thought: This is the end"!
3.42: Pictures of the attack are logged in the Kurdish TV archives. It took place in three stages: First the Iraqi army fired mortars on the city. Then planes dropped napalm, before being followed in the afternoon with nerve and mustard gas attacks.
.00: # OT # 0,29 # OT # Aras Abid Akram (Kurdish) 4.02: "A few of us were heavily injured. We crawled into a hiding place and were hit by a strange smell. It smelled like natural gas, like youd use for a gas stove. Our skin began to itch horribly and became red. Then the smell of the gas changed: first it smelled like garlic, then apples. I didnt have a clue what could smell like that".
4.28: An Iraqi government spokesman stated after the attack that the residents of Halabja were being punished for failing to resist Iran. Iranian soldiers were, at that point in time, preparing to take Halabja.
4.45: One picture became the icon of the massacre. It showed Omar Chawar and his son. Omar Chawar was a baker, father of had six daughters and this boy, Shivar.
5:03:
Thousands fled towards the Iranian border; many died on the way. The lucky ones were treated by Iranian doctors once they had crossed into Iran. Many of the survivors are scarred for life.
5.25: # OT # 0,25 # OT # Aras Abid Akram (Kurdish)"Every time I breathe I get pains in my chest. My eyes burn like fires. And psychologically I am also very unstable. The tiniest things tip me over the edge. If one of my sons speaks too loud for example, sometimes I go stark raving mad. Ive also completely lost my sense of smell, and have very weak tastebuds too.
.47: Aras and Hasan have a lot to catch up on. The guest from Berlin plans to spend a lot of time with his relatives.
5.57: The cemetery of Halabja is today a central meeting place for young and old.
The consequences of the poison gas attack are everywhere. Half the population has some kind of breathing problem.
6.11: The cancer rate is twice as high as in the rest of the country... Many children are born with cleft palates.
6.18: Like eleven year old Sarkan. He has already had several surgical procedures, and needs several more. They just dont have the money.
6:40: At first sight, there is little evidence of the disaster that befell Halabja. People here have struggled their way back to some semblance of normality. Saddam Hussein is now finally history. But his chemical time bomb continues to tick...
Reporter: Rainer Mostbauer
Camera: Robert Reinprecht
Editor: Peter Weiss