A witness on Thursday accused “Chemical Ali”, Saddam Hussein’s most notorious hatchet man, of killing her sons by throwing them out of a helicopter during the crushing of an Iraqi Shiite rebellion. The mother, giving testimony in the trial of 15 Saddam aides accused of crimes against humanity over the brutal repression of the 1991 rebellion in southern Iraq, vented her fury against Ali Hassan al-Majid, widely known as “Chemical Ali.” Speaking from behind a curtain to protect her identity, the woman accused Saddam’s army of arresting her family members and later said Majid himself had killed her two sons. “The army detained my two sons, my brother and my niece on March 3, 1991,” she told the court on the third day of the trial. “Nine days later, my brother and niece were released and they told me that Ali Hasan al-Majid had executed my two sons by throwing them out of a helicopter into the Gulf.”