Second death sentence for Chemical Ali
Tuesday, 02 Dec 2008 11:45
Iraqi court imposes second death sentence on Saddam Hussein's first cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed Chemical Ali
An Iraqi court has imposed a second death sentence on Saddam Hussein's first cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, otherwise known as Chemical Ali.
Al-Majid was condemned on Tuesday for his role in suppressing the Shia Muslim revolt that followed Saddam's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War.
The former defence minister and Iraqi intelligence chief has already been sentenced to death over the 1988 al-Anfal campaign, when troops deployed poison gas against Kurdish villages.
Tens of thousands of people died in the campaign, which lent al-Majid, 68, his nickname and saw him condemned earlier this year in February.
Today's second death sentence, also imposed on co-defendant Abdulghani Abdul Ghafour – the head of Saddam's Baath party in southern Iraq at the time – is for the crackdown on Shia Muslim uprisings in 1991.
Victims' relatives had earlier told the court of mass executions and villagers being thrown to their deaths from helicopters.