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A well-known face of the former government of Saddam Hussein widely known as Chemical Ali was executed Monday for ordering a gas attack on a Kurdish village in northern Iraq and for his role in other attacks that became notorious symbols of Mr. Hussein’s tenure. An Iraqi court had sentenced the man, Ali Hassan al-Majid, to death by hanging last week. He is known here as Chemical Ali because of the attack on the village of Halabja, in which more than 5,000 Kurds died. “I congratulate the Iraqi people for this sentence,” said a lawmaker, Safia Suhail. It was Mr....

Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed -- also known as Chemical Ali -- was executed Monday, an Iraqi government spokesman said. He was hanged after having been convicted on 13 counts of killings and genocide, Ali al-Dabagh said.

BAGHDAD — Tariq Aziz, the senior aide to Saddam Hussein who gained international renown as the public face of Iraq during the Persian Gulf war in 1991, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for crimes against humanity. It is the second verdict to be issued in a case involving Mr. Aziz, 73. Earlier this month he was acquitted on charges of ordering a brutal crackdown against Shiite protesters after the assassination of a revered cleric. He still faces charges in a third trial involving a massacre of Kurds in 1983. Two of Mr. Hussein’s half brothers, Watban...

The attorney for an Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at then-President George W. Bush says his client has been sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a foreign leader. ... Al-Zeidi says his action was a "natural response to the occupation" and shouted "long live Iraq" when the verdict was read.

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at then-President George W. Bush was convicted Thursday of assaulting a foreign leader and sentenced to three years in prison, lawyers said. He defiantly shouted "long live Iraq" when the sentence was read.

Iraq's former deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz and Saddam Hussein's hatchetman "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid have been sentenced to 15 years in jail for crimes against humanity. Aziz and Majid, and six other defendants who were charged over the 1992 murders of 42 Baghdad traders, could have been sentenced to death.

Tariq Aziz guilty of Iraq murders Aziz surrendered to US troops in 2003 Tariq Aziz, for many years the public face of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime, has been jailed for 15 years for his role in the execution of 42 merchants. Aziz had denied any role in the summary trials of the men accused in 1992 of profiteering during economic sanctions. Two of Saddam Hussein's half-brothers were also found guilty and sentenced to death by a court in Baghdad. Another top official, Ali Hassan al-Majid - commonly known as Chemical Ali - was jailed for 15 years. Two other Iraqi...

Iraq's special criminal court Monday acquitted Tariq Aziz, the man who once served as the urbane, cigar-smoking public face of Saddam Hussein's rule, delivering the most significant not-guilty verdict in a series of prosecutions for crimes against humanity that occurred before the U.S. invasion in 2003. Aziz, who will turn 73 next month, remained in custody, facing charges in two other cases. Only hours after his acquittal, he appeared before another judge to defend himself against charges that he was involved in a massacre of Kurds in 1983. Even so, the verdict - the first in a case against him...

Abu Ghraib prison is reopening under Iraqi control(video). Abu Ghraib prison is reopening under Iraqi control. The prison was closed in 2006. It was handed over to the Iraqis and never used in any significant way until now. Abu Ghraib will now be called the "Baghdad Central Prison". We can all sleep well knowing the Iraqis treat their prisoners in a more humane manner than the Americans did. If you believe that, you have stopped drinking the Cool-aid and started eating the powder straight from the package.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush said in the past he had videotaped himself practising the Arab insult to use against the president whose "icy smile" had filled him with uncontrollable rage. Muntazer al-Zaidi said on Thursday at the start of his trial in Baghdad on charges of assaulting a foreign leader that he took a recording of his shoe-throwing training two years ago and had hoped to accost Bush in Jordan but this did not take place.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, Feb. 10, 2009 – Historically in Iraqi culture, police and judges didn’t work with each other to solve cases. That is beginning to change as the nascent police investigative branch in Iraq’s Wasit province is working hand-in-hand with the province’s investigative judges. Art Oates, a law enforcement professional from Houston, teaches soldiers how to enter data into handheld identity detection equipment. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Our relationship with the Iraqi police is good,” said the chief judge in Hayy, Iraq, whose name is...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2009 – As the Iraqi security forces continue to improve their ability to protect Iraq’s people, a strong judicial branch that can help bring criminals to justice becomes increasingly important. “I think the [Iraqi legal system] is improving,” Army Capt. Ronald Alcala, Multinational Division Center’s rule of law chief, said. Coalition forces have had a huge impact by helping to professionalize the Iraqi forces and providing training on crime-scene management and investigative procedures, he added. The Iraqi legal system places more of an emphasis on testimonial evidence, usually from two or more witnesses, and less...

Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - A special Iraqi court has sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid to death, who is known in Iraq as "Chemical Ali" for his role in the poison gas attacks that killed thousands of Kurdish villagers in Iraq's northern uplands in the late 1980s. The court found al-Majid, a cousin of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, guilty for the deaths and suppression of a Shiite uprising in 1991. This was the second death sentence for al-Majid, the first was for the death of thousands of Kurdish villagers in northern Iraq. Al-Majid, who is in his early 60s and...

First his two sons were murdered. Now he faces prosecution. The reason for Mithal al-Alusi's troubles? Visiting Israel and advocating peace with the Jewish state - something Iraq's leaders refuse to consider. The Iraqi is at the center of a political storm after his fellow lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to strip him of his immunity and allow his prosecution for visiting Israel - a crime punishable by death under a 1950s-era law. Such a fate is unlikely for al-Alusi, though he may lose his party's sole seat in parliament. Because he had visited Israel, many Iraqis assume the maverick legislator was...

Iraq: Detainee death cases headed to trial Two soldiers await courts-martial for alleged roles in murder plot Two junior-ranking soldiers will face courts-martial for their role in an alleged conspiracy to murder four Iraqi detainees in April 2007, the 7th U.S. Army Joint Multinational Training Command announced late Friday. Charges of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder against Spc. Belmor Ramos, 23, and Spc. Steven Ribordy, 25, were referred to general courts-martial on Monday by Brig. Gen. David R. Hogg, JMTC commander. Both soldiers were members of 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment at the time of the incident. The unit has...

Sandblasting has restored the exterior of Courthouse 1 and the connecting colonnade to Courthouse 2 on the Anbar Judicial Complex in Ramadi. Photo by USACE. BAGHDAD — The $21.5 million renovation and new construction at the Anbar Judicial Complex in the provincial capital of Ramadi is under way by the Gulf Region Division on palace sites of the Saddam Hussein family.  Courtrooms and judges’ chambers will be located in palace buildings formerly used by Saddam and his infamous sons, Uday and Qusay, at the so-called “Hurricane Point” on the Euphrates River.  Ramadi is one of several Sunni-majority towns along the...

BAGHDAD - Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's best-known lieutenants, accused the Shiite-led government of seeking revenge during a trial Tuesday over the executions of dozens of Baghdad merchants in 1992. Aziz told an Iraqi court, which resumed hearing the case against him and seven co-defendants, that he was proud of being a member of Saddam's Sunni-dominated Baath party and serving under the former dictator. But chief prosecutor Adnan Ali said Aziz and his co-defendants, who include Saddam's ailing cousin known as "Chemical Ali," were responsible for the merchants' deaths and urged the court "to issue the suitable punishment that...

A leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq has been sentenced to death for the killing of the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho. The archbishop of the northern city of Mosul was kidnapped in February by gunmen who attacked his car, killing his driver and two bodyguards. His body was found in a shallow grave two weeks later. The Iraqi government said the criminal court had imposed the death sentence on Ahmed Ali Ahmed, known as Abu Omar. The US embassy in Baghdad welcomed the verdict. Who are the Chaldeans? "Reiterating our condolences to the archbishop's family and community, we commend...

Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz is due on trial over the deaths of a group of merchants in 1992. Mr Aziz, along with seven other former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, are accused of involvement in the execution of about 40 merchants in Baghdad. The merchants were accused of hiking food prices at a time when Iraq was under international sanctions. They were executed after a speedy trial. Mr Aziz's son, Ziad, has said that his father is innocent. "My father told me personally that he had nothing to do with this case. At the time, my father...

Saddam Hussein's ally Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri 'captured' in Iraq By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 12:57am BST 24/04/2008 American forces have captured Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party heir, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the most wanted former regime official still at large, it has been reported. A Middle Eastern television channel said Douri, a key force in the country's devastating insurgency, had been seized in a mountain raid in Saddam's home province of Salahaddin. Most wanted: Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Douri was King of Clubs in the deck of cards of most wanted Iraqis issued to American soldiers after the war. But...