Saddam's Hussein's close aides, including his cousin, the so-called "Chemical Ali," appeared in court on Monday in Baghdad in a trial over the crushing of an uprising after the first Gulf war of 1991. Ali Hasan al-Majid and Saddam's defence minister, Sultan Hashim, and the former deputy commander of operations of the Iraqi army, Hussein Rashid, along with 12 other former regime officials are accused in crimes against humanity. Majid has already been sentenced to death in a previous court case over the al-Anfal campaign of genocide against Kurds. That sentence was upheld by an Iraqi appeals court early this month. The court also upheld the death sentences against Hashim and Rashid. Under Iraqi law, they must be hanged within 30 days, DPA reported.
