? ?
WORLD / Middle East
Iraq trial opens against ex-officials
(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-21 21:30
BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein's cousin known as "Chemical Ali" and 14 others
went on trial Tuesday for charges of crimes against humanity in the
crushing of a Shiite uprising after the 1991 Gulf War.
An Iraqi court on Tuesday began the trial of 15 former aides to executed
Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity during their alleged role in
the crushing of a 1991 Shiite rebellion including Ali Hassan al-Majid,
the first cousin of the executed president and also known as "Chemical
Ali," pictured in January. [AFP/File]
Iraq's third trial against former regime officials opened with three of
the defendants already sentenced to death in another case.
The Iraqi High Tribunal said the defendants are charged with engaging in
widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population, and the
evidence would include testimony from about 90 victims and witnesses.
Saddam's cousin and the former defense minister Ali Hassan al-Majid, who
gained the nickname "Chemical Ali" after chemical attacks on Kurdish
towns during the so-called Anfal campaign, entered the courtroom wearing
his traditional white Arab robe and a red headdress.
The chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa told the men they were charged
with crimes against humanity, which court officials said carries the
maximum penalty of death by hanging.
The charges stem from the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, in which the US
drove Saddam's forces from Kuwait.
Shiites in the south and Kurds in the north sought to take advantage of
the defeat, launching uprisings and seizing control of 14 of the
country's 18 provinces. US troops created a safe haven for the Kurds in
three northern provinces, preventing Saddam from attacking. But?his
troops marched into the predominantly Shiite south and crushed the
uprising, killing tens of thousands of people.
"The acts committed against the Iraqi people in 1991 by the security
forces and by the defendants sitting were among one of the ugliest crimes
ever committed against humanity in modern history," the prosecutor Mahdi
Abdul-Amir said in opening remarks.
It was the third trial of former regime officials after the Dujail case,
in which Saddam and three others were hanged for the 1982 killings of 148
Shiites, and the trial of those accused of killing more than 100,000
Kurds in a 1980s military campaign known as Anfal.
Al-Majid was sentenced to death in the Anfal case but was standing trial
in the Shiite uprising case pending his appeal, the court said.
Two others sentenced to death for the Kurdish killings - Sultan Hashim
Ahmad al-Tai, the former defense minister who led the Iraqi delegation at
the cease-fire talks that ended the 1991 Gulf War, and Hussein Rashid
Mohammed, a former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed
forces - also were among the defendants.
Another high-profile defendant - Saddam's trusted personal secretary and
bodyguard Abed Hameed Hmoud - referred to President Jalal Talabani, a
Kurd, when asked about his residence.
"I used to live in a house in Jadiriyah (a neighborhood in southeastern
Baghdad) and now it is occupied by Jalal Talabani," Hmoud said, repeating
the sentence twice. The judge ignored his remarks.
Officials in Saddam's regime still face trials for their alleged role in
other crimes. These crimes include the slaying of members of political
and religious parties, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the forced emigration
of thousands of Shiite Kurds from northern Iraq into Iran, the execution
of 8,000 members of the Kurdish Barzani tribe, and the destruction of the
marshes in southern Iraq.
Top World News ?
* Iraq trial opens against ex-officials
* Russia: Czechs make "big mistake" on US radar
* US military looks to reduce role in Iraq
* German woman abducted in Kabul
* Powerful earthquake rattles Peru, killing 510
Today's Top News ?
* China raises interest rates 4th time in 2007 to curb inflation
* China working all-out for 181 trapped miners though hopes dim
* Multinationals blacklisted for pollution
* Police warn of Olympic hijack threat
* Hope fades for 181 trapped miners
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
No comments:
Post a Comment