Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Iraq’s ‘Chemical Ali’ Gets 3rd Death Sentence | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page

BAGHDAD, (AP) – An Iraqi judge has given death sentences to three former officials in Saddam Hussein’s regime for slayings and abuses against Shiites a decade ago.

The defendants include Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” for ordering poison gas attacks in the 1980s.

This is Chemical Ali’s third death sentence for brutalities during Saddam’s rule.

The sentences Monday are for a 1999 crackdown that sought to quell a Shiite backlash to the slaying of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad al-Sadr. His supporters blame the killing on Saddam’s agents.

A former intelligence chief and a former top Baath party official also got death sentences.

Three other former Saddam officials received life sentences while two were acquitted, including former Foreign Minster Tariq Aziz.