Iraq’s ‘Chemical Ali’ to hang

BAGHDAD – Saddam Hussein’s notorious cousin “Chemical Ali” was convicted Sunday and sentenced to hang for ordering the most infamous of his crimes, the attacks against the Kurdish town of Halabja that killed more than 5,000 people in clouds of poisonous gas.

The fourth death sentence against Ali Hassan al-Majid for crimes against humanity serves as a reminder that victims of Saddam’s atrocities remain determined to seek justice, as some politicians stoke the lingering bitterness toward the old Sunni-led regime to cement the Shiite domination that supplanted it.

For the still-suffering victims of the assault on Halabja more than two decades ago, the verdict brought a sense of closure to an event that came to symbolize the brutality of Saddam’s rule.

“Now the souls of our victims will rest in peace,” said Nazik Tawfiq, a 45-year-old Kurdish woman who said she lost six relatives in the attack.

Al-Majid’s previous sentences have not been carried out in part because Halabja survivors wanted to have their case against him heard. Politics also plays a role, with a three-member presidential council representing Iraq’s leading factions of Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds unable to agree to sign off on an earlier execution order.

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