Ararat News-Publishing (ANP) – Brussels, Fiona Lorin, Roni Alasor – 25 January 2010 –Chemical Ali – with real name Hassan al-Majid – has been executed today in Iraq for crimes against the humanity. He was responsible for killing 100,000 people during the 1988 Anfal campaign against the Kurds in South Kurdistan and the poisoning of the Kurdish city of Halabja in 1988. The gas and the poison used against the Kurds was made with the help of Soviet-Russia and the West. Today one shameful page of the history of the whole humanity is turned.
Mr.Majid Hamad Amin Jamil, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister for Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, said, “After consulting the attorneys, we believe the individual verdicts are fair but we have reservations about the charge of ‘crime against humanity’ because we consider the gassing of Halabja, which killed more than 5,000, an act of genocide against the Kurdish people. We have decided to appeal the resolution.”
Mr Aras Abid, the Deputy Head of the Halabja Victims Association, said that the Tribunal did not recognise the chemical bombardment of Halabja as a genocidal crime. Mr Abid said, “Our lawyers are calling for an appeal regarding some parts of the verdict and asking that the crime should be recognised as an act of genocide.”
Halabja was sprayed by Iraqi jets for five hours with a lethal cocktail of mustard gas and the nerve agents Tabun, Sarin and VX. At least 5,000 people died as an immediate result of the chemical attack and it is estimated that a further 7,000 people were injured or suffered long term illness. The gas and the poison used against the Kurds was made with the help of Soviet Russia and the West.
Chemical Ali who was Saddam Hussein’s cousin, was a former Ba’athist Iraqi Defense Minister, Interior Minister, military commander and chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. He was captured following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Iraqi state television, al-Iraqiya, broadcasted pictures of the execution.
www.araratnews.eu – ANP
