Chemical Ali sentenced to hang

The cousin of Saddam Hussein, nicknamed Chemical Ali, used to inspire fear across Iraq, but now appeared old and fragile as he stood in the dock.

Two others were also sentenced to death, while another two were handed life sentences and a sixth man was acquitted.

As he listened to his sentence for the horrific genocide known as the Anfal Campaign - which involved the use of poison gas - the former Baath leader in northern Iraq stood silent.

The seven-month wave of persecution and deportations was officially a clampdown on Kurdish separatism, but in reality it saw thousands of villages destroyed, along with the massacre of innocent civilians.

The trial has been criticised by human rights groups for political interference and for falling short of international standards.

But for the Kurds, who waited a long time, there is inevitably satisfaction at today's verdicts on those who tried to destroy them.

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