By Xinhua
Baghdad : Iraqi Presidential Council has approved the execution of Ali Hassan al-Majid, one of former dictator Saddam Hussein’s main aides and his cousin notorious for use of poisonous gas against Kurds, Iraqi official television reported on Friday.
“The Iraqi Presidential Council has approved the execution of convicted Ali Hassan al-Majid for his involving in crimes against humanity during the Anfal Operations in 1980s,” the Iraqi state-run channel said.
The council approved the death sentence of Chemical Ali two days ago and his execution would be carried out within 30 days, it said, without telling the fate of two other convicts who were also sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on June 24 last year for their role in the killing of thousands of Kurdish minority during a crackdown in 1980s.
Nassir al-Ani, head of the presidency council, told Xinhua that he did not receive an official letter about the approval of Majid’s execution, but he did not deny the information.
“Yes, I know about the approval of Majid’s execution but I don’t have an official letter about it yet,” Nassir al-Ani told Xinhua.
The Presidency Council, which comprises of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and his two deputies, Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni Arab and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, has blocked the execution of Ali Hassan al-Majid and the two others.
Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein’s cousin, discusses prosecution evidence during his trial in Baghdad
On Sept. 4, 2007, an Iraqi appeals court upheld the death sentences to “Chemical Ali” and Saddam’s former defense minister Sultan Hashim and former army commander Hussein Rashid Muhammad over charges of crimes against humanity during the military campaign of Anfal, in which tens of thousands of Kurds were allegedly killed.
The three-member council did not oppose the hanging of Majid, but they had a disagreement over whether the other two convicts should face the same fate as Chemical Ali.
The U.S. military, which has the custody of former members of Saddam’s senior officials, including Chemical Ali, said it was aware of the Iraqi presidency council action but had not received a request from the Iraqi government to hand them over.
“We have not yet received a government of Iraq (GOI) request in this regard,” the U.S. military said in a statement received by Xinhua.
“Our position remains that we will comply with a request to transfer custody once the GOI has arrived at a consensus as to the legal process that must be followed with regard to these executions,” the military said.
Under the former Iraqi regime led by Saddam Hussein, more than 100,000 of civilians were killed during chemical and conventional bombardments stretching from the spring of 1987 through the fall of 1988.
The attacks were part of a long-standing campaign that destroyed almost 4,000 Kurdish villages in the vast areas of northern Iraq.