Iraqi Kurds await Chemical Ali verdict (to be announced Sunday, June 24th)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 6/23/07 | Omar Sinan - ap

[NormsRevenge]

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Kurds bought sheep to slaughter in celebration and stockpiled generator fuel to keep televisions working for Sunday'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 anticipate the harshest penalty possible against Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam'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 scorched-earth campaign to crush a rebellion in the north.

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

But the impoverished town has become a focal point for the anger over the operation that led to the deaths of 100,000 Kurds and memories of the atrocities remain fresh in the minds of the survivors.

"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."

The prosecution says 180,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the operation. The defendants who face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, have claimed they were acting on orders and the campaign was aimed at Kurdish rebels supporting Iran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. If convicted they could face death by hanging.

Saddam Hussein was a defendant in the case but was executed on Dec. 30 after his conviction for the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail after a 1982 attempt on his life.

Salimah Bakhtiar, a 45-year-old Kurdish woman from the nearby city of Sulaimaniyah, lost her parents and two brothers in the campaign and planned to travel to Halabja to watch the verdict on television with relatives.

On Saturday, she sent her son to purchase a sheep to slaughter in honor of the victims and extra gasoline for the generator to make sure the television works through any power outages.

"I want to make sure all the family sees the looks on the criminals' faces after the order to be executed is announced," she said. "I have promised to say a couple of prayers in gratitude and to slaughter a sheep honoring the dead of my family and to tell them that their blood was not shed for nothing."

Khushman Murad said he was watering the flowers in his garden on Saturday and planned to take some for the headstones of four family members killed in the chemical attack in Halabja.

"I will take these flowers to my family in their burial place and tell them that the dream has come true," the 38-year-old elementary school teacher said.

Besides al-Majid, other defendants include 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.

In April, the prosecutor, Munqith al-Faroon asked the court to convict and give the harshest penalty of death by hanging to al-Majid and his four co-defendants because they "did not have mercy on elderly people or women or children — not even animals or plants or the environment."

Taher Tawfiq al-Ani, the former governor of Mosul and head of the Northern Affairs Committee, also has been charged, but the prosecutor said he should be released because the evidence against him was insufficient.

___

Associated Press writer Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah contributed to this report.

[NormsRevenge]

Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as 'Chemical Ali' for his alleged use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds, listens to prosecution evidence during the Operation Anfal trial, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 8, 2007. Many in northern Iraq said they anticipate the harshest penalty possible against Ali Hassan al-Majid in the Sunday June 24, 2007 verdict against Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as Chemical Ali, and others accused in a 1980s crackdown against them. The case — called Anfal after the codename for the campaign — does not include the deaths of an estimated 5,600 people in a 1988 chemical weapons attack in Halabja, 150 miles northeast of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, Pool)

[steveegg]

It don't mean a thing if he ain't got that swing :-)

Oh, and if the DhimmiRATs had their way, Chemical Ali would still be gassing.

[TOneocon]

I don’t think the Kurd’s are going to be disappointed. Chemical Ali will be hung.

[jazusamo]

I believe he’s about to become a swinger just like his cousin did. :-)

[Lurker]

Personally I want to see this mofo's neck snap on YouTube.

But that's just me. I hope that ain't wrong.

L

[gpapa]

I’d rather see him gassed, slowly.

[LukeL]

Well they could make the rope too short and put the noose behind him causing his throat to be sliced in addition to being slowly chocked.

Or option B is to make the rope too long causing his head to be torn off his body.

[Vigilanteman]

Will he rate his own swinging website like his buddy Saddam?

[jazusamo]

That would be more appropriate for the pain and suffering he caused, he’s truly an evil person.

[PGalt]

Trickle down annihilation works!

[GATOR NAVY]

I like how these guys go for the bearded raghead look during their trials. You know there’s no way they would have worn this when they were in power. They would have associated it with their enemies the Saudis or Kuwaitis. Now I guess they’re trying to draw sympathy-”look at poor Arab me”.

[AmericaUnited]

Ding, ding, ding! Iraq - ‘Chemical Ali’ and two former Saddam officials sentenced to death by hanging.