Ali Hassan al-Majid, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s cousin, and two other ousted officials, were sentenced to hang on Sunday for their roles in the 1988 Anfal campaign which left 180,000 Kurds dead.
Al-Majid, then in charge of the Baath Party’s Northern Command, was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for ordering the use of chemical weapons during 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and its aftermath.

The other men sentenced to death were former Defence Minister Sultan Hashim al-Tai and a former director of military operations, Hussein Rashid Muhammad. Former senior mi-litary intelligence officers, Sabir al-Douri and Farhan Mutlaq Saleh were given life terms of imprisonment.

Charges were dropped against Taher Tawfiq al-Ani, a former governor of Kirkuk.

Lawyers representing the five intend to appeal the sentences, the team’s head Khalil al-Dulaimi stated. He described the verdicts as “unjust and political and have nothing to do with the law”.

Human Rights Watch has said the trials are flawed and unjust. Kurds, who still feel deep anger over the 1988 campaign to drive members of their community from the areas bordering Iran, have expressed satisfaction over the verdicts.

But Kurds remain rankled over the government’s decision to execute Saddam Hussein at the end of his trial for the murder of 148 Shias following an attempt by the Shia Dawa party to assassinate him at the village of Dujail in 1982.

Kurds argued that he should stand trial for the much greater crimes he committed against them than against the Shias of Dujail.

The verdicts against the six men are likely to stir Sunni hostility at a time members of this community are totally disillu-sioned with the Shia fundamentalist Maliki government which has, since taking office in May 2006, failed to deliver security, reconciliation, water, power, jobs, promised constitutional amendments, and half a dozen major legislative measures.

Sunni resentment over the dismissal on June 11th of the speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, prompted 55 members of two Sunni blocs to begin a boycott of the 275-seat national assembly, stripping the Maliki government of a quorum.

Last week 32 legislators loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled out of the Shia United Iraqi Alliance which has dominated political life since the 2005 election, leaving the bloc with only 81 seats.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had been planning to forge a new grouping including the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, one of groups joining the boycott.