clari.world.mideast.iraq

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.