Residents demand execution of Chemical Ali

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Residents in northern Sulaimaniya province sent a letter to the Iraqi government calling for the execution of "Chemical Ali" and others for war crimes.

An Iraqi tribunal in June 2007 sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid and his co-defendants to death for the alleged use of chemical weapons in response to a 1988 Kurdish uprising. Prosecutors claim Majid ordered the use of nerve agents in what was called Operation Anfal, earning him the nickname "Chemical Ali."

Residents in the northern province sent a letter to local and state officials demanding the "swift execution" of Majid for the Anfal campaign, the media arm of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said Thursday.

The "mercenary chiefs who aided the ousted Baath regime in the Anfal operation against the Kurds (should) be brought to justice," the letter said.

Residents also called on the Iraqi government to compensate family members of the Anfal victims.

Iraqi authorities in February said Majid would hang "in a matter of days." He allegedly suffered a heart attack in April due to a hunger strike and was returned to a U.S. detention facility.