http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...emical-ali-han
ged-iraq
'Chemical Ali' to be hanged within days
Ali Hassan al-Majid sentenced to death by Iraq's high criminal court for ordering slaughter of Kurds in 1988
Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk, S
unday 17 January 2010 19.33 GMT
One of Saddam Hussein's most loathed henchman, Ali Hassan al-Majid, otherwise known as Chemical Ali, will be hanged within days, a senior official said tonight, setting the scene for Iraq's highest profile execution since Saddam himself was put to death more than three years ago.
The former spy chief and first cousin of Saddam was today sentenced to death for ordering the slaughter of more than 5,000 Kurds in the northern Iraqi town of Halabja with chemical weapons in 1988.
It was the fourth death sentence the 68-year-old has received for atrocities committed during the brutal three-decade reign of the Ba'athists. Iraq's deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, said Majid's execution was now imminent.
"We will receive Chemical Ali from the Americans in the next few days and he will be executed very soon afterwards," said Ibrahim. Majid was sentenced by Iraq's high criminal court. All remaining prosecutions he faces are now expected to be set aside.
Separately, the Guardian has learned that the US detention centre in which Majid has been held since being captured six years ago will continue to house prisoners until August, despite being scheduled to close on 31 December as part of a much-heralded security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. The status of forces agreement signed between both states had flagged the *closure of the Camp Cropper detention centre as a milestone of security progress.
The US president, Barack Obama, had been personally involved in ordering its closure and the end of the contentious system used in Iraq where suspected militants could be detained by US forces, often with limited judicial redress.
Ibrahim said the extension of the US detention programme had been requested by Iraq....
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