Saddam’s Cousin Refuses To Apologize for Attack on Kurds
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein’s cousin told a court yesterday that he does not regret any decision that he made while crushing a Kurdish uprising nearly two decades ago, adding that the government’s campaign didn’t target Kurds because of their ethnicity.
Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as “Chemical Ali” for his alleged use of chemical weapons against Kurds, said the aim was to put an end to a Kurdish insurgency in northern Iraq.
“If I have committed any wrongdoing against any Iraqi, then I am ready to apologize to him,” Mr. Majid said. “If you asked me why have you done this, my answer is that we were compelled to do so to stop the shedding of Iraqi blood that was running for more than 25 years.”
Mr. Majid is one of six defendants who still face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the Anfal military campaign during the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq war. More than 100,000 Kurds were killed.
Saddam was among the defendants until he was executed for crimes against humanity on December 30 after he was sentenced to death in the killing of 148 Shiites following an assassination attempt against him in 1982.
Mr. Majid, wearing a red-and-white traditional Arab headdress, said the government was targeting rebels — not Kurds on the basis of their ethnicity. Saddam’s regime was dominated by minority Sunnis at the expense of Shiites and Kurds.
During yesterday’s session, the prosecution showed several documents, including one that was dated in March but did not give a year. It said Iraqi warplanes bombed “some of the saboteurs’ headquarters in [Kurdish] Saway village, and a chemical strike was launched that led to the killing of 50 saboteurs and wounding of 30.”
Speaking about the documents, Mr. Majid said “all decisions I took were for a reason,” which was to end the bloodshed caused by the Kurdish rebellion. Offering no apology, he said, “I am not defending myself, and it is not an apology because I have committed no mistake that I need to apologize for.”
Mr. Majid said the government attacked the Kurds because they were cooperating with the “Iranian enemy, with which we were at war.” The Iran-Iraq war left 1 million people killed on both sides.
“It is not part of our ideology or policy to be against an ethnic group,” he said.
The trial was adjourned until Sunday.
