'Chemical Ali', 2 others get death sentences

Baghdad: Iraq's High Tribunal on Sunday condemned "Chemical Ali" and two other former regime officials to death by hanging for their roles in a 1980s scorched-earth campaign that led to the deaths of 180,000 Kurds.

Ali Hassan Al Majid, Saddam's cousin and the former head of the Baath Party's Northern Bureau Command, earned his nickname for his alleged use of chemical weapons against the ethnic minority during efforts to crush a rebellion in the north.

The judge, Mohammed Oreibi Al Khalifa, said Al Majid was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for ordering army and security services to use chemical weapons in a large-scale offensive that killed or maimed thousands.

Former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad Al Tai was sent to the gallows after the judge ruled that he had ordered a large-scale attack against civilians and used chemical
weapons and deportation against the Kurds.

The former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi Armed Forces, Hussein Rashid Mohammed, also was sentenced to death after he was convicted of drawing up military plans and other allegations against the Kurds. Two other former regime officials were sentenced to life in prison.