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Genocide of Kurds
‘Chemical Ali’ gets death by hanging

Baghdad, June 24
An Iraqi court today sentenced Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as ‘Chemical Ali’, and two other former regime officials to death by hanging for their roles in a 1980s scorched-earth campaign that led to the deaths of 180,000 Kurds.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam's cousin and the former head of the Baath Party's Northern Bureau Command, trembled and stood silently as the judge read the verdict.

The judge, Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, said al-Majid was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for ordering army and security services to use chemical weapons in a large-scale offensive that killed or maimed thousands.

As he was led out of the court, al-Majid said, “Thanks be to God.” The decisions, if upheld on appeal, would bring to a close the second trial against former regime officials since Saddam was ousted in the 2003 US-led invasion.

Saddam, who also had been a defendant in the so-called Anfal trial, was hanged on December 30 for ordering the killings of more than 140 Shiite Muslims from the Iraqi city of Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt on him.

Kurds welcomed the trial as their chance to taste vengeance, although the case did not deal with the most notorious gassing - the March 1988 attack on the northern city of Halabja that killed an estimated 5,000 Kurds. Former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai was also sent to the gallows after the judge ruled that he had ordered a large-scale attack against civilians and used chemical weapons and deportation against the Kurds.

Al-Tai, who was wearing a traditional Arab robe and a white headdress, stood in silence as the verdict was read but insisted he was innocent afterwards. “I will not say anything new, but I will leave you to God. I'm innocent,” Tai said as a guard escorted him out of the room after the verdict.