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'Chemical Ali' execution not imminent,
says US
8.9.2007
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September 8, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- The US military said yesterday it
was unaware of any plan by Iraq's government to
carry out a death sentence against Saddam Hussein's
cousin, widely known as "Chemical Ali", in the "near
term".
An Iraqi appeals court on Tuesday upheld Ali Hassan
al-Majeed's death sentence for planning and
directing a military campaign in 1988 that
prosecutors said killed up to 182,000 Kurds. The
sentence must be carried out within 30 days.
Since then, rumours have been rife that the
government plans to execute him ahead of the Muslim
fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in
mid-September.
Several media reports said on Friday that the US
military was about to hand over Majeed to the Iraqi
authorities so that they could hang him.
These are all rumours not grounded in fact. We
control Chemical Ali. He has not been moved," said
U.S. Navy Captain John Fleming, spokesman for U.S.
detention operations in Iraq. |
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 |
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We know of no plans for the near term for the
execution of that sentence," he said, referring to
the appeal court decision.
Sunni Arabs in Iraq accused the Shi'ite-led
government of acting with unseemly haste in carrying
out the death sentence of Saddam on Dec. 30, just
four days after a court rejected his appeal in a
separate case.
Sunni Arab governments, including Egypt and Saudi
Arabia, also criticised the timing of the execution,
which took place at the start of the Eid al-Adha
religious feast.
The appeals court this week also upheld the death
sentences against two other accused in Majeed's
trial-Sultan Hashim, Saddam's former defence
minister, and Hussein Rashid, the former deputy head
of operations for the Iraqi military.
Majeed has also just gone on trial for his role in
crushing a Shi'ite rebellion in southern Iraq in the
aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. Prosecutors in that
case had warned he could be executed before the
trial was completed.
Reuters
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