P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.newsmax.com/international/iraq/2007/11/29/53273.html
Iraq Asks US to Hand Over 'Chemical Ali'
Thursday, November 29, 2007
BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister has appealed to President Bush to hand over
Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," and two other former
regime officials sentenced to hang for a 1980s crackdown against Kurds, two
government officials said Thursday.
The formal request from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki threatened to strain
relations with U.S. officials _ who have refused to surrender the men _ and
incite a backlash from Sunni Arabs as sectarian violence is ebbing.
Sunni leaders have led a campaign to spare the life of one of the condemned
men, former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie, who is widely viewed by
Sunnis as a respected career soldier who was forced to follow Saddam's
orders in the 1986-88 purges against Kurds.
Although there is little outcry for leniency against the others _ including
Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for ordering poison gas
attacks _ the U.S. military has refused to relinquish control of all three.
The third is Hussein Rashid Mohammed, an ex-deputy director of operations
for the Iraqi armed forces.
They were convicted in June of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity for their part in the Operation Anfal crackdown that killed nearly
200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas. An appeals court upheld the
verdict in September. Under Iraqi law the executions were to have taken
place within a month.
Now, their execution date is indefinitely on hold in response to a struggle
between al-Maliki and the Sunni vice president over whether to commute the
death sentence for al-Taie.
Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and
parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also a Sunni, say al-Taie's
life should be spared in a gesture of national reconciliation.
American officials have balked at handing the men over until the Iraqi
leadership resolves the dispute.
Al-Maliki's letter to Bush _ which the two Iraqi government officials said
was given to the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday _ demanded they be handed over to
Iraqi custody immediately.
The officials, both of whom had seen the letter, spoke on condition of
anonymity because its contents were not public. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman
Mirembe Nantongo would not say whether such a letter had been sent: "We
don't normally discuss the contents of diplomatic communications."
In the letter, al-Maliki accused unnamed politicians of interfering in the
legal process for personal reasons and insisted Talabani and the Sunni
politicians had no right under Iraqi law to pardon or ease the sentences of
people convicted of crimes against humanity.
Al-Maliki said his government had promised Iraqis that their judiciary was
independent, and that a U.S. refusal to hand over the condemned men
suggested influence by Washington.
Earlier this month, U.S. Embassy spokesman Philip J. Reeker said the men
would remain in American custody until the government reached a "consensus
as to what their law requires."
Salim Abdullah, a lawmaker from al-Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party and also
the spokesman for the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, said there was
no objection to sending al-Majid to the gallows. Abdullah said he knew
nothing about the letter to Bush, but criticized al-Maliki.
"The prime minister realizes that there are legal problems involved in this
issue, which is also linked to efforts to achieve national reconciliation,"
Abdullah said. "He wants to appear as the upholder of the law and cast
others as the law breakers."
Al-Taie, the ex-official whose death sentence prompted the dispute, is a
Sunni Arab who signed the ceasefire with U.S.-led forces that ended the 1991
Gulf War.
Many Sunni Arabs see his sentence as evidence that Shiite and Kurdish
officials are persecuting their once-dominant minority and as a sign of
Shiite influence over the judiciary.
A U.S. decision to hand over the men could threaten the recent lull in
violence.
The number of Iraqi civilians killed has declined drastically in the past
six months as tens of thousands of Iraqis nationwide, mostly Sunnis, have
broken with the insurgents and joined U.S.-backed self-defense groups. In
November to date, at least 711 Iraqi civilians have been killed or found
dead, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press. This compares
with 2,155 in May.
The U.S. military reported its 35th death of the month on Thursday _ a
soldier killed in Baghdad _ putting November on course to be the least
deadly for American troops in Iraq since March 2006, when 31 troops died.
Also credited is the buildup of nearly 30,000 additional U.S. forces and the
six-month cease-fire ordered by the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr,
whose Mahdi Army force had been blamed for many of the sectarian killings.
Iraq Asks US to Hand Over 'Chemical Ali'
Thursday, November 29, 2007
BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister has appealed to President Bush to hand over
Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," and two other former
regime officials sentenced to hang for a 1980s crackdown against Kurds, two
government officials said Thursday.
The formal request from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki threatened to strain
relations with U.S. officials _ who have refused to surrender the men _ and
incite a backlash from Sunni Arabs as sectarian violence is ebbing.
Sunni leaders have led a campaign to spare the life of one of the condemned
men, former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie, who is widely viewed by
Sunnis as a respected career soldier who was forced to follow Saddam's
orders in the 1986-88 purges against Kurds.
Although there is little outcry for leniency against the others _ including
Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for ordering poison gas
attacks _ the U.S. military has refused to relinquish control of all three.
The third is Hussein Rashid Mohammed, an ex-deputy director of operations
for the Iraqi armed forces.
They were convicted in June of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity for their part in the Operation Anfal crackdown that killed nearly
200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas. An appeals court upheld the
verdict in September. Under Iraqi law the executions were to have taken
place within a month.
Now, their execution date is indefinitely on hold in response to a struggle
between al-Maliki and the Sunni vice president over whether to commute the
death sentence for al-Taie.
Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and
parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also a Sunni, say al-Taie's
life should be spared in a gesture of national reconciliation.
American officials have balked at handing the men over until the Iraqi
leadership resolves the dispute.
Al-Maliki's letter to Bush _ which the two Iraqi government officials said
was given to the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday _ demanded they be handed over to
Iraqi custody immediately.
The officials, both of whom had seen the letter, spoke on condition of
anonymity because its contents were not public. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman
Mirembe Nantongo would not say whether such a letter had been sent: "We
don't normally discuss the contents of diplomatic communications."
In the letter, al-Maliki accused unnamed politicians of interfering in the
legal process for personal reasons and insisted Talabani and the Sunni
politicians had no right under Iraqi law to pardon or ease the sentences of
people convicted of crimes against humanity.
Al-Maliki said his government had promised Iraqis that their judiciary was
independent, and that a U.S. refusal to hand over the condemned men
suggested influence by Washington.
Earlier this month, U.S. Embassy spokesman Philip J. Reeker said the men
would remain in American custody until the government reached a "consensus
as to what their law requires."
Salim Abdullah, a lawmaker from al-Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party and also
the spokesman for the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, said there was
no objection to sending al-Majid to the gallows. Abdullah said he knew
nothing about the letter to Bush, but criticized al-Maliki.
"The prime minister realizes that there are legal problems involved in this
issue, which is also linked to efforts to achieve national reconciliation,"
Abdullah said. "He wants to appear as the upholder of the law and cast
others as the law breakers."
Al-Taie, the ex-official whose death sentence prompted the dispute, is a
Sunni Arab who signed the ceasefire with U.S.-led forces that ended the 1991
Gulf War.
Many Sunni Arabs see his sentence as evidence that Shiite and Kurdish
officials are persecuting their once-dominant minority and as a sign of
Shiite influence over the judiciary.
A U.S. decision to hand over the men could threaten the recent lull in
violence.
The number of Iraqi civilians killed has declined drastically in the past
six months as tens of thousands of Iraqis nationwide, mostly Sunnis, have
broken with the insurgents and joined U.S.-backed self-defense groups. In
November to date, at least 711 Iraqi civilians have been killed or found
dead, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press. This compares
with 2,155 in May.
The U.S. military reported its 35th death of the month on Thursday _ a
soldier killed in Baghdad _ putting November on course to be the least
deadly for American troops in Iraq since March 2006, when 31 troops died.
Also credited is the buildup of nearly 30,000 additional U.S. forces and the
six-month cease-fire ordered by the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr,
whose Mahdi Army force had been blamed for many of the sectarian killings.
