BAGHDAD, Feb. 29, 2008
Iraq Approves Execution For "Chemical Ali"
Saddam Hussein's Cousin To Be Hanged For Ordering Gas Attacks Killing Thousands Of Kurds
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Ali Hassan al-Majid would be the fifth former regime official hanged for alleged atrocities against Iraqis during Saddam's nearly three-decade rule. (AP Photo/Nikola Solic, Pool)
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Photo Essay Saddam's Final Moments Saddam Hussein went to the gallows Dec. 30, 2006. Contains photos some may find disturbing.
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Interactive Saddam's Judgment Background on the former Iraqi leader's alleged crimes, his life and capture, plus video and photos.
The approval by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents was the final step clearing the way for Ali Hassan al-Majid's execution by hanging. It could now be carried out at any time, a government adviser and a prosecutor said.
Al-Majid was one of three former Saddam officials sentenced to death in June after being convicted by an Iraqi court of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for their part in the Operation Anfal crackdown that killed nearly 200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas.
Al-Majid was nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for ordering poison gas attacks that killed thousands.
The officials said the three-member presidential council agreed to al-Majid's execution, but did not approve death sentences against the other two - Hussein Rashid Mohammed, an ex-deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, and former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie.
The fate of the men - who are in U.S. custody - had been in legal limbo since this summer and the decision could represent a compromise to ease Sunni objections to executing al-Taie, widely viewed as a respected career soldier who was forced to follow Saddam's orders in the purges against Kurds.
Al-Majid would be the fifth former regime official hanged for alleged atrocities against Iraqis during Saddam's nearly three-decade rule.
Saddam, who also had been a defendant in the so-called Anfal trial, was hanged Dec. 30, 2006, for ordering the killings of more than 140 Shiite Muslims from the Iraqi city of Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt against him.
A government adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. officials had been informed of the decision by phone and that a meeting was planned to decide when and where the execution should take place.
A senior U.S. military official said the military was aware the order had been signed, and that the date for the execution would be determined by the Iraqi government.
The other two men remain in U.S. custody but are under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi government, the official said, declining to be identified ahead of an official announcement.
Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi, who said he had received word of the decision from the presidential council, said there was a legal basis for the execution of "Chemical Ali" but not of the other two.
He said no law existed that could force the presidential council to endorse the execution of all three, so it had the prerogative to just sign off on one of the orders.
An appeals court upheld the verdicts against the three in September. Under Iraqi law the executions were to have taken place within a month. But they were put on hold after Sunni leaders including Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi launched a campaign to spare the life of al-Taie.
Fast Fact
President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, had also refused to sign the order against al-Taie, a Sunni Arab from the northern city of Mosul who signed the cease-fire with U.S.-led forces that ended the 1991 Gulf War.Al-Majid was nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for ordering poison gas attacks that killed thousands.
Al-Taie surrendered to U.S. forces in September 2003 after weeks of negotiations. His defense has claimed the Americans had promised al-Taie "protection and good treatment" before he turned himself in.
Many Sunni Arabs saw his sentence as evidence that Shiite and Kurdish officials are persecuting their once-dominant minority and as a sign of Shiite influence over the judiciary, raising concerns the executions could ignite retaliatory sectarian attacks.
The case also strained relations between al-Maliki's Shiite-led government and U.S. officials. In late November, the Shiite prime minister asked President Bush to hand over "Chemical Ali" and the other two former regime officials.
The officials said al-Hashemi had refused to agree to the executions of the other two because he considered them career soldiers following orders.
There have been few calls for leniency, however, regarding al-Majid.
Saddam's half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were hanged in January 2007.
Saddam's former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, had been sentenced to life in prison for his role in Dujail but was executed in March after the court decided this was too lenient. Three other defendants were sentenced to 15 years in jail in the Dujail case, while one was acquitted.
In other developments:
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Add a Comment See all 50 Comments
- its a dark day for liberals
- Reply to this comment
- Do you hate Obama because he''''s black or do you hate him because he''''s the only canidate of "Hope" ??
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Posted by j-whitman at 02:24 PM : Feb 29, 2008
+ report abuse
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better question..are you voting for obama because he is black?? I am not worried about obama being black but I am worried about obama''s past - Reply to this comment
- You don''''''''t know squat on Trade, Military or National Security & you''''''''ve got a **** poor rendition of American History
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Posted by j-whitman at 02:39 PM : Feb 29, 2008
+ report abuse
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and you do? - Reply to this comment
- terrorislama--Lars,,,,, Get a life or go back to the planet you came from ------ You don''''t know squat on Trade, Military or National Security & you''''ve got a **** poor rendition of American History
- Reply to this comment
- terrorislama--Lars,,,,, What''s the problem with you ??? Do you hate Obama because he''s black or do you hate him because he''s the only canidate of "Hope" ??
- Reply to this comment
- terrorislama--Lars,,,,, Yes, I''m positive Obama is Christian ----- Even McCain says so
I''ve got a Trinity Christian College not more than 3 miles from my house,,,, They are indeed Christian & just as White as your church is. - Reply to this comment
- terrorislama--Lars,,,,, Tell me something please -- Do you Hate Obama because he''s black ?? Or, do you hate him because he''s the only canidate of Hope ??
He''s Christian not Muslem. - Reply to this comment
- terrorislama--Lars,,,,, McCain''s entire career was in politics & did nothing to secure Arizon''a borders or help our VA ---
-- He''s the rubber stamp that won''t fix our border untill the end of the next President''s term, it''s not even funded. - Reply to this comment
- terrorislama--Lars,,,,, Get a life dude or go back to the planet you came from.
Obama''s entire career was in community service & state politics --
---- Bush''s entire career was stealing from communities, Texas & America & only had 4 years in public office. - Reply to this comment
- You know, the one where we lost zero soldiers
Posted by rafterman1
I believe there were some US air force personnel killed. - Reply to this comment
- rafterman1--- Speaking of Kosovo,,, I wonder if McCain will redeploy troops from Iraq to Kosovo ?? Many more are needed to protect our embassy & other intrests. -------- My guess is he won''t
- Reply to this comment
- ilikecats1,,,, What in your opinion is a pseudo liberal ??
Obviously you are confuesed,,, Liberals don''t bend over butt up for politicians who lie to our country, that''s what conservatives do (pseudo patriotism) - Reply to this comment
- Chemical Ali and Saddam Killed thousands of Iraqi Kurds with the Weapons of mass Destruction that Democrats insist Saddam did not have. I guess all those dead Kurds are just stupid for pretending to be dead since Iraq%u2019s WMD''s was all a George Bush Plot.
- Reply to this comment
- Hey Satin, you better warm up some hot coals, another one of Saddam''s buddies is about to arrive for a permanent visit! Keep the fires going, Fidel Castro wont be long either.
- Reply to this comment
- I didn''t know Saddam was chemically dependent.
- Reply to this comment
- And I just saw your n----- post in the porn stars crime spree thread. I have no interest in speaking to anyone who wears a sheet, you racist pigf*cker. Another neocon reveals their true colors. You know, even if everything you said about libs vs conservatives was right (which it isn''''t), I''''d still rather be an "empty vsion" than a lowlife racist like you.
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Posted by rafterman1
Your choice dummy. Later empty man..... - Reply to this comment
- But I do know 100% rightly the idea that common men, and not kings, govern men was a radical liberal idea of the day. The conservatives of the day believed in the old ways, of kings and royalty and landowners calling all the shots. That''''s History 101. And, as far as conservatives holding true to the Constitution, tell that to all the people we''''ve tortured (no cruel or unusual punishment) or the people we spied on illegally (warrants needed).
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Posted by rafterman1
It is what it is RAFTERMANDUMMY, it is what it is. You cant deny it any longer. Accept your liberal base as a failure.
Take a look around. San Francisco with their pot shops dealing out to the kids and gayyy parades rolling up and down the streets. Do you know why? Liberalism....
Berkeley, CA: Code pink gets assigned the parking space right in front of the Marine recruitment center and the Marine is forced to walk to his place of employment from way down the street. Do you know why? Liberalism
and on and on and on........it''s anarchy. And, you are part of it... - Reply to this comment
- And by the way, the founding fathers were the raving lunatic liberals of the day. If yuo and your neocon buds were around, you would have been loyalists - the conservatives of the day. Suck on that one for a while.
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Posted by rafterman1
Rafterman -- In the past, you''ve proven your "Dumminess" over and over again. And yet, here you are again, proving it once more....
The founding fathers were conservatives with conservative principles and ideas. Which, by the way, is why us conservatives hold true to the Constitution.
Just think of it this way: Our founding fathers were conservatives because they accomplished a sacred goal never before repeated in human history.
If they were liberals, they would have continuously have failed and it''s anyones guess at this point, how we might have ended up.... - Reply to this comment
- Def: "Neoconservative Republican" (n): A person who thinks George Bushit is honest and intelligent; i.e., a person capable of enormous self-deception, a person who thinks nothing of shoving his personal bigotry and mythology on others; a person who thinks laws are made for the "little people" but not for important people like Neoconservative Republicans (q.v.).
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Posted by gkc99
GCKDUMMY -- I''m not forcing anything on you. I''m just telling you how it is. And, it is that way...... - Reply to this comment
- "A vision of self importance and reliance on government intervention due to their lack of intelligence, work ethics, or a combination of both."--Posted by poopusbuttus
Def: "Neoconservative Republican" (n): A person who thinks George Bushit is honest and intelligent; i.e., a person capable of enormous self-deception, a person who thinks nothing of shoving his personal bigotry and mythology on others; a person who thinks laws are made for the "little people" but not for important people like Neoconservative Republicans (q.v.). - Reply to this comment
