04 April 2007 :
an Iraqi prosecutor sought the death penalty for Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali", and four other former regime officials accused of crimes against humanity during a 1980s crackdown on Kurds when, prosecution says, 180,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed. The prosecutor, Munqith al-Faroon, suggested a sixth defendant be released for lack of evidence.The other accused include former director of military intelligence Sabir al-Douri; Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai, a former defense minister and head of the Iraqi Army 1st Corps during the Anfal campaign; Hussein Rashid Mohammed, former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi Armed Forces; and Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, former head of military intelligence's eastern regional office. If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to death by hanging.