'Chemical Ali' trial resumes

BAGHDAD, July 28 (UPI) -- An Iraqi court resumed proceedings examining the atrocities allegedly ordered by Ali Hassan al-Majid, or "Chemical Ali," following a 1991 Shiite rebellion.

Majid asked not to attend the Monday session, citing deteriorating health. He reportedly suffered a heart attack in April.

The court Monday instead heard testimony from defense witnesses, Voices of Iraq reported.

Majid and 14 others face the death penalty for crimes against humanity. Majid was sentenced to death last September for orchestrating the Halabja massacre in March 1998, where an estimated 5,000 people were killed by chemical gas attack, earning Majid his nickname, "Chemical Ali."

Majid, the former Baathist Iraqi defense minister, is the prime defendant in the current case examining atrocities committed against Shiites in 1991.

The Shaaban Intifada of 1991 began after U.S.-led forces forced Iraqi troops from Kuwait. The rebellion was successful in seizing control of several cities and brought rebels within 60 miles of the capital, Baghdad.

Witnesses at the opening of the Shaaban trial in September testified that Majid ordered the execution of prisoners "in batches -- 25 at a time."