Global Security Newswire

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his aides will face justice for a 1988 chemical attack on Iraqi Kurds, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq told victims’ families yesterday in Halabja, Reuters reported (see GSN, Jan. 3, 2003).

Paul Bremer spoke at the town’s memorial building and assured Kurds that Hussein and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed “Chemical Ali” for his alleged orchestration of gas attacks, would be held accountable.

“I can promise you that justice will be done,” he said on the 16th anniversary of the bombing attack that killed 5,000 people.

The March 16, 1988 Halabja attack was the pinnacle of a campaign of terror against Iraqi Kurds to punish them for seeking autonomy in northern Iraq during its war with Iran, according to Reuters.

Many people still suffer from the attacks, said Aras Akram, head of the Halabja Anti-Chemical Society, which helps survivors.

“They dropped napalm and mustard gas,” he said. “People still have problems with their eyes — asthma and cancer are also very common,” Akram added.

Akram, whose parents, seven sisters and three brothers were killed in the attack, said that Hussein’s execution would not be a just punishment for the crime.

“Even if [Hussein] were executed, that would not be enough,” he said. “Saddam committed genocide.  He should be put in a cage so that everybody can go and see him,” he added.

U.S. troops captured Hussein in December. Al-Majid was arrested in August (Seb Walker, Reuters/Yahoo!News, March 17).