Saddam aides face execution Saturday

BAGHDAD, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- A lawyer for Ali Hasan "Chemical Ali" Al-Majid and two other former aides of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said the three are to be executed Saturday.

Majid Badee Aref Ezzat said his clients informed him by phone that the executions were moved up, KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, reported Thursday.

An Iraqi appeals court Tuesday refused to overturn the death sentences handed down to Majid, former Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed and former Deputy Director of Operations for the Iraqi Armed Forces Hussein Rashid Mohammed after they were convicted of crimes against humanity for the massacre of about 180,000 Kurds using chemical weapons.

Judge Mounir Haddad said the appeals court decision was sent to the Iraqi president, who set the date for the executions. He said the death sentences were upheld by a majority decision.