Chemical Ali faces Iraqi tribunal
Saddam Hussein’s notorious cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali,” was one of eight former regime officials to be shown today on a tape released by the Iraqi Special tribunal.
Al-Majid and the others were shown testifying before an investigating magistrate and signing statements.
The IST did not say when the tape was made, but one of the documents signed by al-Majid was dated June 16.
It was the third such tape released by the tribunal this month. On June 15, the tribunal released a video showing the questioning of three former senior officials – including Saddam’s half brother Sabawi Ibrahim. Saddam himself had appeared on an earlier tape.
No trial dates have been set for Saddam or any of the other former regime officials being held in custody.
In the tape released today, al-Majid is showed sitting in a chair and later signing a document. There is no audio on the tape except for when the men say their names.
Al-Majid is known as Chemical Ali for his role in poison gas attacks against Iraq’s Kurdish minority, including the 1988 gassing on the Kurdish town of Halabja that killed an estimated 5,000 people. He was captured on August 21, 2003.
The IST said he was questioned about crimes against religious parties and “killing and arresting” Iranian Kurds – also known as Faili Kurds – living in Iraq. No details were provided.
Saddam is known to have deported tens of thousands of Faili Kurds to Shiite Iran during the 1980-88 war with Iran, accusing them of spying for the Iranians and aiding their war effort.
Another of the defendants was Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, a presidential secretary and Saddam’s cousin, who was captured on June 16, 2003. The IST said he was charged with crimes against religious parties. It did not elaborate.
It then showed Taha Yassin Ramadan, vice president and revolutionary command council member, who was captured on August 20, 2003. It also said he was charged with crimes against the Faili Kurds.
Another man on the tape, like the others also on the list of America’s most wanted Iraqis, was former Interior Minister Mahmoud Diab al-Ahmed, who was captured August 8, 2003. The IST also said without elaboration that faced a blanket charge of crimes against religious parties.
Little was known of the last four men on the tape.
The IST said Sadoun Shakir al-Obeidi faced charges of taking part in a massacre in Dujail, a town 50 miles north of Baghdad, where at least 50 people were shot dead in 1982 in retaliation for a failed attempt to assassinate Saddam.
Saddam is also a defendant in that case, which it is believed will be the first to include the former dictator.
The other three men were all charged with participating in the massacre of Shiites in the south after the 1991 Gulf War. They were identified as Maad Ibrahim Khalil al-Douri, Saadi Tu’ma Abbas and Ghalib Omar Mahdi.
