Iraq and U.S. wrangle over executions of Chemical Ali and two others

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Iraq and U.S. wrangle over executions of Chemical Ali and two others
By Bobby Caina Calvan | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Sunday, November 11, 2007


BAGHDAD — U.S. officials want him dead, and many Iraqis would not object to seeing him hanging from the gallows, like his cousin Saddam Hussein. But the fate of the man known as the notorious Chemical Ali, remains in doubt as the United States and the Iraqi government are in a battle of wills over the custody of three condemned men who should already be dead.

The standoff could ultimately be a test of sovereignty for the government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who on Sunday demanded that the United States hand over the men so a death warrant already affirmed by the country's top court can be meted out as punishment for the killing of 180,000 Kurds, some by lethal gas, during a 1988 assault that has symbolized the brutality of Saddam's regime.

Privately, some U.S. military officials say they have no problem handing over Ali Hassan Majeed, better known as Chemical Ali, but the fates of the two other men — in particular, Sultan Hashim Ahmed, a former general who willingly surrendered to U.S. forces, and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a former Republican Guard commander — has opened a rift between Maliki and U.S. officials.

"The discussion is over. The execution should be done," Maliki said during a news conference Sunday. "Unfortunately, the U.S. Embassy played a role in preventing the hand over."

An appeals court affirmed the death sentences on Sept. 4, and the executions were supposed to take place within a month, as ordained by Iraqi law. But the holy month of Ramadan stood in the way, and the executions appear to have been postponed indefinitely — while a pitched debate takes place in the highest ranks of Iraq's government.

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