Chemical Ali to be executed

Saddam Hussein’s cousin known as “Chemical Ali” and two other former regime officials were today sentenced to hang for their roles in a 1980s scorched-earth campaign that led to the deaths of 180,000 Kurds.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam’s cousin and the former head of the Baath Party’s Northern Bureau Command, earned his nickname for his alleged use of chemical weapons against the ethnic minority during efforts to crush a rebellion in the north.