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Iraqi Defendants Deny CW Use on Kurds
Two one-time subordinates to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said yesterday in court they used conventional rather than chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels and the Iranian military, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 21). Hussein and six senior members of his regime are implicated in the deaths of more than 180,000 Iraqi Kurds during the Anfal campaign of the late 1980s. Documents and videos presented in their trial this week have linked the defendants to use of chemical weapons against Kurds, including civilians. “I didn’t use any special weapon against the Kurds,” yelled Sultan al-Tai, Hussein’s defense minister. He said some documents were “forged.” Al-Tai and former deputy director of army operations Gen. Hussein Mohammed said they were fighting Iranian troops who operated from Kurdish rebel bases while the two countries were at war from 1980 to 1988. They denied use of chemical weapons and said they were following orders. “My job allowed me only limited responsibility,” Mohammed said. “In an army, a deputy commander is not the responsible person. “Who am I to be struck with such an issue (chemical attacks)?” Did I sign these documents? Is my name on them? If it’s there, I’ll sign my execution myself,” he said. Al-Tai’s claim that the government relocated Kurds during the campaign for safety reasons drew derision from chief prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon, AP reported. “I wonder where the people in the mass graves come from?” he said. “How were they transferred to the mass graves? Maybe in the same trucks that went to the safe houses he’s talking about!” The trial is scheduled to resume on Jan. 8 (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 21).
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