'Chemical Ali' faces possible death penalty

Baghdad: The Iraqi high tribunal said yesterday it will issue a verdict in two weeks in the trial of Saddam Hussain's cousin Ali Hassan Al Majid, also known as 'Chemical Ali', and other former regime officials who face a possible death sentence if convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the military campaign against the Kurds in the 1980s.

The decision will be announced on June 24, prosecutor Jaafar Al Moussawi told the Associated Press after a short court session that he said was attended by the six defendants, including Al Majid, former head of the Baath Party's Northern Bureau Command.

Taher Tawfiq Al Ani, ex-governor of Mosul and head of the Northern Affairs Committee, has also been charged, but the prosecutor said he should be released because of insufficient evidence.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish leader, told Gulf News: "Al Ani could receive a lighter sentence ... because he was not in responsible positions back then."

He said Kurdish political parties provided evidence to condemn the culprits.

Hassan Shaaban, Chairman of the Iraqi Human Rights Organisation, told Gulf News: "We consider [death penalty] as an encroachment on human dignity."