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Iraq seeks end to "Chemical Ali" execution
impasse
16.1.2008
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January 16, 2008
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
is trying to end an impasse that has delayed the
execution of Saddam Hussein's cousin and two other
men convicted of genocide, a government spokesman
said on Wednesday.
Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as
"Chemical Ali",www.ekurd.net
former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem and former
army commander Hussein Rashid Muhammad are in U.S.
military custody awaiting execution after they were
convicted for their roles in a campaign against
Iraq's Kurds in 1988.
An Iraqi court in September upheld death sentences
against the three men.
Iraq's constitution stipulates that the sentences
must be carried out within 30 days but they remain
in custody while Iraq's leaders squabble over who
has authority to sign off on the executions. |
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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The legal dispute between the government and Iraq's
presidency council has been complicated by growing
calls for Hashem to be spared. Many Sunni Arabs say
he was a soldier who was just following the orders
of Saddam's feared cousin Majeed.
"The prime minister is trying to find a solution and
a sort of balance between these demands and
upholding the law and the constitution and the
decisions made by the court," government spokesman
Ali al-Dabbagh told a news conference.
Dabbagh did not say what form the balance might
take, or whether Maliki was considering any
compromises in the dispute or a pardon for Hashem.
The U.S. military has said it will not hand the men
over for execution until it receives what it calls
an "authoritative government of Iraq request".
"It's dependent on a decision still to be taken by
the government of Iraq," U.S. military spokesman
Major-General Kevin Bergner said at the same news
conference.
What constitutes such a request, and who is
authorised to make it, is at the heart of the
argument between Shi'ite Islamist Maliki and
President Jalal Talabani,www.ekurd.net
a Kurd, and Sunni Arab
Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi.
Maliki has written to U.S. President George W. Bush
demanding that he order the three men be handed
over.
Talabani and Hashemi say Maliki has no right to make
such a request and the three man-presidency council
-- made up of the president and two vice-presidents
-- should sign the order.
Reuters
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