'Chemical Ali' receives fourth death sentence

Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin Chemical Ali was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging yesterday for ordering the gassing of Kurds in 1988, killing more than 5,000 in an air raid thought to be the worst single attack of its kind on civilians.

It was Ali Hassan al-Majid's fourth death sentence for crimes against humanity in Iraq. The previous three have not been carried out, in part because survivors of the poison gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja wanted to have their case against Mr al-Majid heard.

Relatives of Halabja victims cheered in the courtroom when chief judge Aboud Mustafa handed down the guilty verdict against Mr al-Majid, one of the chief architects of Saddam's repression.

Nazik Tawfiq, a 45-year-old Kurdish woman who said she lost six relatives in the attack, fell to her knees upon hearing the verdict to offer a prayer of thanks.

"I am so happy today," she said. "Now the souls of our victims will rest in peace." In Halabja after the verdict, residents cheered and songs played from loudspeakers at a monument commemorating victims of the attack. Some in town visited the cemetery to remember loved ones who perished in the gassing. The jubilation demonstrated again the deep-rooted hatred many Iraqis feel towards the former regime.

Another senior figure in Saddam's regime, former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, suffered a severe stroke over the weekend and cannot speak, his son said.

Mr Aziz was for years the chief diplomat of Saddam's regime. He was convicted and sentenced to prison for his involvement in the forced displacement of Kurds in northern Iraq and the deaths of Baghdad merchants in the 1990s.

Mr Al-Majid earned his nickname because of his willingness to use poison gas against the Kurds.

The 1988 killings remain a source of deep pain, particularly for Iraq's Kurds. Many in Halabja still suffer physically from the effects of the nerve and mustard gas that were unleashed on the village at the end of the eight-year, Iran-Iraq War.

The chemical air raid is thought to be the worst single attack of its kind against civilians. Graphic pictures taken after the attack showed bodies of men, women, children and animals lying in the streets where they inhaled the gas. Survivors were covered by burns.

The attack has left many of the survivors with long-term medical problems such as permanent blindness, skin burns, respiratory and digestive problems and cancer, said Farman Othman, a doctor in Suleimaniyah who has treated a number of patients.

The attacks were part of repeated attempts by Saddam's government to suppress the Kurds, who had long campaigned for autonomy from mainly Arab Iraq and staged a guerilla war against Saddam's military. The Kurds had also allied with the Iranians during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.