Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Iraqi Kurds await verdict over 1980s crackdown by regime

Saddam Hussein's regime killed up to 180, 000 to crush a rebellion.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 24, 2007

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Kurds bought sheep to slaughter in celebration and stockpiled generator fuel to keep televisions working for today's verdict against Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as Chemical Ali, and others accused in a 1980s crackdown against them.

Many in northern Iraq said they anticipated the harshest penalty possible against Ali Hassan al-Majid, Hussein's cousin and the former head of the Baath Party's Northern Bureau Command, who is accused of responsibility for using chemical weapons against Kurds in the late 1980s campaign to crush a rebellion in the north.

The case - called Anfal after the codename for the campaign - does not include the deaths of 5, 600 people in a 1988 chemical weapons attack in Halabja, 150 miles northeast of Baghdad.

"Finally, the past hard days are gone. I am ready to start over without this burden on my chest, " said Lokman Abdul-Qader, a 40-year-old resident of Halabja who lost six relatives in the chemical attack and says he has suffered from acute asthma attacks since he inhaled the nerve and mustard gas that was used.

Al-Majid has denied he was responsible for the Halabja attack or others that earned him the nickname "Chemical Ali."

Kurds say 180, 000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the operation. Other assessments range from 50, 000 to 100, 000. The defendants, who face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, say they were acting on orders against Kurdish rebels supporting Iran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. If convicted, they could face death by hanging.

Besides al-Majid, other defendants include former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai; Sabir al-Douri, former director of military intelligence; Hussein Rashid Mohammed, former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi Armed Forces; and Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, former head of military intelligence's eastern regional office.

[Last modified June 24, 2007, 01:25:57]