AP News, October 18th, 2007
A glance at the three former Saddam Hussein officials sentenced to hang for a 1980s military crackdown against Kurds in northern Iraq, which killed more than 100,000 people.
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ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID: A career military official who gained the notorious nickname "Chemical Ali" for ordering poison gas attacks as part of a campaign against autonomy-minded Kurds. Al-Majid, one of Saddam's cousins, was considered among the most powerful figures in the regime's inner circle.
Al-Majid was a warrant officer and army motorcycle messenger before Saddam's Baath party led a coup in 1968. He was promoted to general and served as defense minister from 1991-95.
In 1988, as the Iran-Iraq war was winding down, he commanded a scorched-earth campaign known as Anfal to wipe out a Kurdish uprising. Several years later, Iraqi opposition groups released a video that showed al-Majid shooting captured rebels in the head and kicking others in the face.
He also was accused of ordering the killings of two other members of Saddam's family: son-in-laws Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel and Saddam Kamel. The two brothers defected to Jordan in 1995, but were lured back to Iraq the following year and were slain along with several other family members.
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SULTAN HASHIM AHMAD AL-TAI: Defense minister during the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003, al-Tai surrendered to U.S. forces in September 2003 after weeks of negotiations. During trial, his defense claimed that American officials promised al-Tai "protection and good treatment." Al-Tai's lawyer also said his client was only defending his country against Iranian attacks in northern Iraq during the 1980-88 war between the two countries.
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HUSSEIN RASHID MOHAMMED: Former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces. He was convicted of drawing up military plans and other measures against the Kurds.
