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| Iraq |
| Iraq: Key witness 'fled' from inquiry into chemical attack |
| 2008-12-23 |
| (AKI) - An Iraqi court has been told that a pilot allegedly responsible for poisoning Iraqi Kurds in the north of the country in 1988 has disappeared. The pilot, Tareq Ramadan, is accused of dropping toxic chemical bombs on the city of Halabja in an attack that occurred on 16 March 1988. Ramadan had been detained in a hospital in the region but apparently fled from the area over a year ago. "The pilot is one of those accused of this crime and not a simple witness," said an unnamed Kurdish source who confirmed the news. Ramadan was to have been tried in the controversial case involving Ali Hassan al-Majid, cousin of former dictator Saddam Hussein, better known as 'Chemical Ali'. Al-Majid has already been sentenced to death twice for crimes against humanity and one of those sentences was in relation to the genocide of up to 5,000 Iraqi Kurds allegedly targeted in a vicious campaign under Saddam's regime. Al-Majid was sentenced to death for the second time on 2 December for brutally repressing a Shia revolt after the 1991 Gulf War. But he earned his notorious nickname for his role in using poison gas against Kurdish villages. The three other defendants are former Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashim and former Baath regime officials Farhan Saleh and Saber Al-Douri. The source stressed that "the presence of this pilot at the court hearing was necessary and very important", particularly because the confessions that he made during the investigations. He also said many former Iraqi leaders had denied their involvement in the execution of this crime. "We do not know where these things will go now that it has been confirmed that the accused has fled," he said. Local media quoted a source for the Kurdish Minister for the Victims of al-Anfal - the genocidal campaign against the Kurds - saying he had expressed his "shock" at the pilot's disappearance. "His appearance would have really helped the cause very much," said the source. The first session of the court hearing began on Sunday with testimony from one of the survivors who lost six children from the chemical attack. The case continued on Tuesday with evidence from another eight survivors. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Wonder where they'll find his body - without his head. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-12-23 12:06 |
| #1 Out of the fat and into the fire, as it were. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-12-23 07:12 |