Prosecutors yesterday sought the death penalty for Saddam Hussein's cousin, widely known as Chemical Ali for his use of poison gas against the regime's opponents and once one of the most feared men in Iraq.

Ali Hassan al-Majeed is on trial with five other former senior Baath party officials for their roles in the 1988 Anfal (Spoils of War) campaign against ethnic Kurds that prosecutors say killed up to 180,000 people.

Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of the population, have long sought justice. Their mountainous northern region is still haunted by the devastating seven-month military operation in which mustard gas and nerve agents were used to clear villages.

Charges against Saddam himself lapsed when he was hanged on December 30 for crimes against humanity in a separate case. Some Kurds said his execution robbed them of the historic opportunity of trying the deposed leader for the graver crime of genocide.

"We demanded the death penalty for all of the defendants except for Taher al-Ani, whom we requested the court to free for lack of evidence," chief prosecutor Munkith al-Faroon said.

Ani was the former governor of Mosul province. All six defendants were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, while Majeed, considered the main force behind the campaign, also faced the charge of genocide.

The audio feed from the televised coverage of yesterday's trial was frequently cut, but Faroon said later he had sought hanging for the defendants.

During Anfal, thousands of villages declared "prohibited areas" were razed and bombed as part of a scorched-earth campaign. Thousands of villagers were deported, many executed.

(China Daily via agencies April 3, 2007)