BAGHDAD, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Iraq's Presidency Council has approved the execution of "Chemical Ali," the cousin of Saddam Hussein, an Iraq official who cannot speak officially said.
A date for the hanging of Ali Hassan Majid has yet to be set, but must be carried out within 30 days, the official told The Los Angeles Times. The three-member Presidency Council approved only Majid's execution, not his two co-defendants who also were convicted of genocide and other crimes.
Supporters of Majid and his co-defendants argued the three were only carrying out Saddam's orders when they gassed thousands of Kurds in the 1980s.
Majid has been held by the United States, which refused to hand him over until the council decided whether he would be hanged or imprisoned.
Earlier this week, the Presidency Council -- made up of a Shiite, a Sunni and a Kurd -- did not approve a law that would have established provincial powers and begun the process for provincial elections. The law was seen as critical to Iraq's reconciliation, the newspaper reported Friday.
