Iraq Prepares Grim Saddam Museum

Saddam cousin hangs for attacks on Kurds

(AP) - 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. More»

'Down with the occupiers,' his half-bro shouts as sentence is read

(NEWSER) - Saddam Hussein’s ex-foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, and his cousin “Chemical Ali” al-Majid were both sentenced today to 15 years in prison for their involvement in the 1992 execution of 42 Baghdad merchants. The pair was among eight defendants, and only one—then governor of Iraq’s central bank—was acquitted, the Washington Post reports. Two of Hussein’s half-brothers received death sentences. More»

VP gave go ahead for 'remarkably successful' tactic

(NEWSER) - Vice President Dick Cheney personally approved using waterboarding to interrogate 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he reveals in a wide-ranging interview on ABC News. "I was involved in helping get the process cleared. The agency came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," said Cheney, referring to waterboarding and other controversial interrogation techniques. "They talked to me to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it." More»

(NEWSER) - Saddam Hussein’s body was mutilated after his execution, says a guard present at his internment. “There were six stab wounds on his body,” two of them to his back, the Iraqi told the London Times. The guard said 300 people witnessed the desecrated body, but Iraqi officials and the leader of Saddam’s tribe deny that he was mutilated after death. A video shows him being taunted by enemies just before his hanging. More»

Former top diplomat Aziz faces death for executing merchants

(NEWSER) - The trial of Saddam Hussein’s former deputy prime minister began today in Baghdad, the New York Times reports. Tariq Aziz could get the death penalty for ordering the 1992 execution of more than 40 Iraqi merchants accused of price-gouging. The judge, however, has adjourned until May 20 because of the absence, for health reasons, of fellow defendant Ali Hassan al-Majid, aka “Chemical Ali." More»