Kurdish minister praises Chemical Ali execution (Extra)

Feb 29, 2008, 10:38 GMT

Baghdad - Kurdish Minister of Martyrdom and Anfal Affairs Ganar Abdul-ah praised Friday the signing of the execution warrant on Ali Hassan al-Majid and urged that it quickly be carried out.

'Approving the execution is a significant step taken to assure the legitimacy of the court that issued the ruling,' the Kurdish minister told the Iraqi news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

She added: 'We call upon the central government to carry out the execution as fast as possible and we hope the implementation does not take long.'

The Iraqi presidency approved the execution of al-Majid, cousin of former president Saddam Hussein, for killing thousands of Kurds in Anfal campaign in 1988, the official Iraqi television channel al- Iraqiya said Friday.

The death sentence of al-Majid is to be implemented in the coming 30 days.

Reports said the execution warrant was signed by President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies.

On June 24, 2007, Iraq's Special Tribunal sentenced al-Majid, whose nickname is Chemical Ali, along with two other defendants former defence minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad and former assistant to the Iraqi army's chief of staff, general Hussein Rashid Mohamed al- Takriti - to death on charges of genocide.