"Chemical Ali" Sentenced for 1992 Killings

by Sinan Salaheddin

The former Iraqi official best known as "Chemical Ali" received a 15-year prison sentence today for abetting the 1992 execution of 42 people over alleged business abuses, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 2).

Ali Hassan al-Majid has already received three death sentences, including one for his role in the massacre of tens of thousands of ethnic Iraqi Kurds under the government of his cousin Saddam Hussein in the late 1980s. The former defense minister ordered the use of chemical weapons in the campaign.

Former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz also received a 15-year jail term in connection with the killings of the merchants, while death sentences were handed to two of Hussein's half-brothers: former Interior Minister Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and one-time public security chief Sabawi Ibrahim.

Three additional co-defendants received respective prison sentences of life, 15 years and six years. The Iraqi court acquitted a single defendant due to a lack of evidence.