BAGHDAD, Iraq: Forensic experts have uncovered identification cards beside Saddam victims in mass graves that Iraqi prosecutors hope will offer damning evidence in his trial for genocide against the Kurds that is to begin on August 21.

Experts say they are providing crucial evidence for future cases.

Saddam is accused of ordering the killings of tens of thousands of Kurds in 1988 in the Anfal campaign.

Many ended up in mass graves which have been unearthed by American experts like Michael "Sonny" Trimble, a 53-year-old forensic archaeologist from Missouri with the Army Corps of Engineers.

He and other experts have uncovered six major grave sites.

"What you've found is a lot of these individuals had IDs where they had hidden them in secret pockets or sewn them inside secret areas, especially the women," said Trimble.

"So from a criminal case standpoint I think we have a lot of very good data that the Iraq criminal justice system will use later on to present in court."

About 12 percent of the individuals found so far had identity papers. Usually they were stripped of those documents, said Trimble.