Iraq's Presidential Council endorsed the death sentence for Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali"' for his role in the gassing of thousands of Iraqi Kurds during a 1988 campaign of genocide.
Al-Majid, a cousin of former President Saddam Hussein, will be executed within 30 days, President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said today on the party's Web site. Talabani, a Kurd, is joined on the council by vice presidents Adel Abdul al-Mahdi, a Shiite Muslim, and Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim.
This is bad news for purely personal reasons. Someone I know is part of the detail guarding Ali, and it's the safest gig in Iraq. Once they carry out the execution, he'll have a full year of doing stuff that's much more dangerous.
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