Eurasia Press & News
Six former officials in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq regime today denied crimes against humanity for a crackdown on Kurds in the 1980s.
The defendants – including Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as “Chemical Ali†for allegedly ordering poison gas attacks – gave their response after the chief judge read various charges relating to the campaign, code-named Operation Anfal, which killed an estimated 100,000 Kurds.
The Baghdad trial began last year with each defendant rejecting the general allegations.
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Today’s special tribunal delivered specific charges to end the investigative phase of the proceedings. If convicted, they could face a death sentence.
Saddam Hussein was a defendant in the Anfal trial, but was sentenced to death after his conviction for the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt. He was hanged on December 30.
