Source:
ReutersLegal row delays hanging of Iraq's "Chemical Ali"
By Mariam Karouny
Wed Oct 17, 12:41 PM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The execution of Saddam Hussein's cousin, widely known as "Chemical Ali," will be delayed while Iraqi officials try to settle a legal dispute over who should sign the order, judicial sources said.
Ali Hassan al-Majeed was convicted in June of planning and directing the Anfal (Spoils of War) military campaign in 1988, in which prosecutors said up to 180,000 Kurds were killed and which the trial court later ruled was an act of genocide.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government is keen to see Majeed, once one of the most feared men in Iraq, follow Saddam to the gallows as soon as possible.
He was to have been hanged within 30 days of his sentence being upheld by an appeal court on September 4, but the execution was postponed because it would have taken place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended last weekend.
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