Chemical Ali’s execution imminent- spokesperson

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as Chemical Ali, will be executed within the coming few days, an official spokesperson for the Iraqi government said on Monday. “The sentence will be implemented in the coming few days after traditional and constitutional approvals are granted…,” Ali al-Dabbagh told IraqiNews.com news agency. On Jan. 17, Iraq’s Supreme Criminal Court has sentenced Majeed to death by hanging for his role in the Halabja massacre in which thousands of Kurds were killed by chemical attacks. It was the fourth death sentence Majeed has received for crimes committed during the reign of former President Saddam Hussein. The court also sentenced Farhan Motalk al-Juburi, the former chief of intelligence in the northern zone, to 10 years in jail. Former Minister of Defense Sultan Hashim Ahmed, and Saber Abdulaziz al-Dori, the former chief of military intelligence during the Halabja campaign, were given a 15-year sentence. On March 16, 1988, Halabja came under brutal chemical attacks at the hands of the former Iraqi regime, leaving more than 5,000 people killed and more than 10,000 others injured, according to Kurdish estimates. Halabja district is 83 km east of Sulaimaniya city, which lies 364 km north of Baghdad. SS (S) 2