Chemical Ali receives third death sentence - Telegraph

Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as Chemical Ali, has received his third death sentence from a Baghdad court.

Ali Hassan al-Majeed, who earned his nickname for his role in using poison gas to kill thousands of Kurdish villagers in Iraq, was condemned to death for "premeditated killing as a crime against humanity" and displacing civilians in raids on their homes.

The sentence was in connection with the murders and displacement of Iraq's Shia Muslims in 1999.

His previous sentences were for masterminding a genocidal campaign against Kurds in the 1980s and has role in the killing of thousands of Shia Muslims during their uprising after the 1991 Gulf War.

His execution has been held up by political wrangling in Baghdad.

In the latest case, the Iraqi military were ordered into Shia areas, mainly in Baghdad, to prevent demonstrations after the assassination of the revered Shia cleric Mohammed Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr.

Of the 14 defendants, two others were sentenced to death and four were jailed for life, including Abed Hamid Mahmoud, who was Saddam's personal secretary at the time.

The court acquitted Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister, who is also facing another trial for his alleged involvement in executing dozens of merchants accused of breaking state price controls in 1992.

The Iraqi High Tribunal was established after the US invasion in 2003 to try former members of Saddam's government. It is the same court that convicted the late dictator and sentenced him to death.