'Chemical Ali' confesses execution orders in Iraq genocide trial

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Saddam Hussein's cousin "Chemical Ali" told Iraq's genocide trial that he ordered troops to execute villagers who refused to leave their homes during a brutal anti-Kurdish operation. Ali Hassan al-Majid, who faces the gallows if found guilty of slaughtering 182,000 Kurdish villagers in the 1980s, spoke from the dock with subdued calm, in contrast to angry tirades delivered by Saddam before his execution.

"Yes, I gave my instructions to consider these villages as prohibited areas and I gave orders to the troops to catch anyone they find there and execute them after investigating them," Majid told the court. "I'm responsible for the displacement and I took this decision alone, without going back to the high military command or Baath party commander. I say that...