Iraq Executes 'Chemical Ali'

Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" was executed today, the Iraqi government reports. Ali Hassan al-Majid had four death sentences against him for his various crimes against humanity. The most infamous was a poison gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja, which killed 5,000 and earned him his nickname.

"Now the souls of our victims will rest in peace," one Kurdish woman who lost six relatives in the attack said after his sentencing. The execution serves as a reminder that victims of Saddam's atrocities remain determined to seek justice, as some politicians stoke the lingering bitterness toward the old Sunni-led regime to cement the Shiite domination that supplanted it. (More Chemical Ali stories.)