ALI Hassan al-Majid, the Saddam Hussein henchman better known as Chemical Ali who is on death row for genocide, has been admitted to hospital after a three-day hunger strike, lawyer Badie Aref said in Jordan today.Majid "was taken to hospital on Saturday after his health deteriorated as a result of the hunger strike," said the lawyer, who represents another leading figure in Saddam's regime, deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz. "He is in a serious health situation... he went on the strike to protest his prison conditions."
Mr Badie did not elaborate.
Majid was sentenced to death for genocide last June, along with former defence minister Sultan Hashim al-Tai and former armed forces deputy chief of operations Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti. The three were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing a brutal military campaign against Kurdish civilians in 1988 known as Anfal, or Spoils, that left 180,000 people dead. Their executions have been delayed by legal wranglings.