October
22, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Saddam Hussein's former defence
minister, Sultan Hashem, should be dead. So, too,
should Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, after
a court ordered both men to hang for a genocidal
campaign against Iraq's Kurds.
But things are not going according to plan for
Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government, despite its best
efforts to set a date for the pair to follow Saddam
to the gallows. A third army commander also faces
execution for his role in the campaign.
Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi has
threatened to resign if it goes ahead, and President
Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, says he opposes executions
in principle but also believes army officers who
followed orders should not face such punishment.
They argue the constitution requires the presidency
council, which also includes Vice-President Adel
Abdul-Mahdi, a Shi'ite, to approve the executions.
The government disagrees and a committee has been
set up to try to resolve the dispute. |
Ali Hassan al-Majid, first cousin of executed
dictator Saddam Hussein and also known as 'Chemical
Ali', 'Butcher of Kurdistan' sentenced to death over Kurdish genocide, AP |
|
The legal dispute has been complicated by a growing
chorus of calls for Hashem's life to be spared, with
many Sunnis saying he was a courageous soldier
simply following orders. There is also a murky tale
of collusion with the Americans and empty promises
of amnesty if he cooperated.
The Iraqi vice president said in an interview in
September that he had learned of an attempt by the
government to execute the three men "but the
president and I managed to stop this unlawful and
unconstitutional attempt at the last moment".
"I said that if the constitution was bypassed and
the sentencing of the officers was implemented in
violation of the constitution before a presidential
order (was issued), I would hand in my resignation,"
he said.
The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan also forced a
delay. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said last
week they would be executed "in days" but that seems
an optimistic timetable.
Majeed 'Chemical Ali', former Defence Minister Sultan Hashim
and Saddam's former army chief of staff Hussein
Rashid were sentenced to death in June for Kurdish
genocide, for planning and directing a military
campaign in 1988 that prosecutors said killed up to
182,000 Kurds.
US CUSTODY
For the moment the pair remain in U.S. custody, in a
location kept secret for security reasons, with the
U.S. military caught in the stand-off between the
presidency and the government of Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki.
Time magazine reported that Hashem was due to be
executed on Sept. 11, but U.S. officials refused to
hand him over because of the objections of leaders
like Talabani.
A senior U.S. military official told Reuters they
are awaiting an "authoritative government of Iraq
request" for the three men to be handed over for
execution.
"My understanding is that the presidency council
must be part of the process," said Colonel Steve
Boylan, spokesman for the U.S. military commander in
Iraq, General David Petraeus.
Some Iraqi officials are suspicious that the U.S.
military is protecting Hashem, amid persistent
allegations he collaborated
with them to topple Saddam in 1996 and 2003.
A former member of a secret CIA task force in
northern Iraq, Rick Francona, has said Hashem first
reached out to the CIA through Talabani, then a
Kurdish rebel leader, in 1996, when the agency was
fomenting a plot to oust Saddam.
In 1988, Hashem was commander of Task Force Anfal,
which targeted Kurdish areas in Kurdistan 'northern
Iraq' in a military campaign that killed tens of
thousands and destroyed entire villages.
But his supporters say he was simply a figurehead
and that real authority lay with Saddam's cousin
Majeed, widely known as "Chemical Ali", who was in
overall charge of the operation.
By the time of the U.S.-led liberation, Hashem had
risen to become defence minister. He surrendered on
Sept. 19, 2003, after Petraeus, then commander of
the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul, wrote him a
letter asking him to give himself up.
The letter, which Reuters has a copy of, is
revealing for Petraeus's comments on respecting the
military chain of command.
"As military men we follow the orders of our
superiors," he wrote, echoing the argument of
Hashem's supporters.
"We may not necessarily agree with the politics and
bureaucracy, but we understand unity of command and
supporting our leaders in a common and just cause.
However, the collapse of your regime necessitates
your thoughtful reconsideration of support," he
said.
"You have my word that you will be treated with the
utmost dignity and respect, and that you will not be
physically or mentally mistreated while under my
custody."
U.S. military officials say that promise was not an
offer of amnesty, but the human rights official who
negotiated his surrender and his family say there
was an agreement that he would be immune from
prosecution.
"Petraeus made a promise to the head of the tribes
that nothing would happen to him. He would stay in
U.S. custody for five weeks and then he would be
released. But that didn't happen," Hashem's son,
Mohammed, told Reuters.
Mohammed said the family last spoke to Hashem, now
on trial for his role in crushing a Shi'ite uprising
after the 1991 Gulf War, by telephone two weeks ago.
"He is resigned to death," he said.
Reuters
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