Seraphim
08-21-2003, 08:14 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/21/sprj.irq.main/index.html
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/meast/08/21/sprj.irq.main/long.majid.jpg
Al-Majid, who was reported killed in April, is now in U.S. custody.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," the man who is believed to have ordered a chemical weapons attack against Kurds in 1988 and is a cousin of Saddam Hussein, is in U.S. custody, the U.S. military said Thursday.
He is the king of spades and No. 5 in the deck of cards issed by the military of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis. He was taken into custody several days ago, the military said.
No details of his capture were available.
He was a general, presidential adviser, a member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle, commander of the Baath Party Regional Command, member of the Revolutionary Command Council, and head of the Central Workers Bureau.
In April, coalition officials announced that a strike on al-Majid's house killed him and that troops had recovered his body. That day, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "We believe that the reign of terror of Chemical Ali has come to an end."
But Thursday, U.S. officials said they have taken him into custody.
Group linked to Al Qaeda suspected in bombing
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials say a terror group linked to al Qaeda is emerging as a top suspect in the deadly blast at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.
An official told CNN that intelligence reports in the past two weeks indicated Ansar al-Islam might be planning a major attack in Iraq, and a top U.S. official in the country also said he suspects the group could have launched Tuesday's strike that killed at least 23 people.
"It's part of a global war against terrorism that was officially declared on us on September 11," U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer said Wednesday. "It's quite clear we do have terrorists inside Iraq now."
Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, was among those killed Tuesday, and others are believed to be dead under the rubble. (Profile of Vieira de Mello)
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The FBI has taken the lead on the investigation. (Bombing scene)
But Bremer said that foreign terrorists or Ansar al-Islam could have been involved in the U.N. attack and the deadly Jordanian Embassy blast on August 7.
"After the war, it appears that a number of terrorists from the Ansar al-Islam group have reinfiltrated into Iraq," Bremer said. "We are concerned about that. We also have other foreign terrorists who've been arriving from other borders."
He said people are entering the country with travel documents from countries such as Sudan, Syria and Yemen. "This we know because we have killed or captured a number of them," he said.
Pentagon officials said the bomb attack at the U.N. complex appears more sophisticated than would be expected from Saddam Hussein loyalists. However, they cautioned that members of the Mukhabarat, the former Iraqi intelligence service, would have the expertise to use explosives.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday vowed the world body will press ahead with its efforts in Iraq.
"We will carry on our work," he said. "We shall not be deterred. We are going to keep at it until we succeed."
Of those who carried out the attack, he said, "This is not going to serve their cause."
The United States is seeking a U.N. resolution to encourage more countries to send troops to join the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq in the wake of the deadly bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are to meet separately Thursday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. (Full story)
U.N. reassessing security
In the carnage, one person is still unaccounted for, U.N. officials said. Eighty-six people were hospitalized, of which at least 20 of them were evacuated to Jordan for treatment, they said. At least nine of the bodies recovered so far have been identified as U.N. employees.
"For people who went into Iraq with only the objective of assisting the people of Iraq to be killed in such a violent and senseless manner is something that none of us will ever comprehend," Annan said.
The bombing was the single most deadly attack in Iraq since the Bush administration declared an end to major combat operations on May 1. (Full story)
Investigators said the explosives-laden truck was packed with "military-grade munitions" similar to those used by Saddam's armed forces.
Pentagon officials said a key objective is to analyze the detonator used in the attack. They said they want to determine whether a so-called "shaped charge" was used that would have forced the bomb blast in the direction of the building to achieve maximum damage.
These types of directional charges are a longtime hallmark of al Qaeda attacks.
"This was not a homemade bomb," said Tom Fuentes, the FBI agent leading the investigation. He noted that parts manufactured in the Soviet era were found among the explosives -- fragments from mortars, artillery shells, grenades and a 500-pound bomb.
Fuentes said investigators were able to comb through the area where the truck bomb detonated. They got into the bomb crater, took chemical samples, retrieved vehicle parts and found some human remains, he said.
Tuesday's attack has spurred concern over how to implement security measures in Iraq. Bremer said all foreign missions will meet Friday to talk about tougher precautions.
Asked about a report that the United Nations in Baghdad declined an offer of increased security from U.S.-led coalition forces, Annan said that even if it were the case U.N. personnel should not have been allowed to do so.
"First of all, I was surprised that we would turn down such an offer. And secondly, that kind of decision should not be left to the protected," he said. "It is those with the responsibility for security and law and order who have the intelligence which determines what action is taken."
CNN Correspondents Rym Brahimi and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030821/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_chemical_ali&cid=540&ncid=716
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON - The former high-ranking Iraqi official known as "Chemical Ali" is in the custody of U.S. forces, a senior defense official said Thursday.
Ali Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), once ran Iraq (news - web sites)'s armed forces. Opponents gave him his nickname for his role in 1988 chemical weapons attacks that killed thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq.
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/meast/08/21/sprj.irq.main/long.majid.jpg
Al-Majid, who was reported killed in April, is now in U.S. custody.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," the man who is believed to have ordered a chemical weapons attack against Kurds in 1988 and is a cousin of Saddam Hussein, is in U.S. custody, the U.S. military said Thursday.
He is the king of spades and No. 5 in the deck of cards issed by the military of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis. He was taken into custody several days ago, the military said.
No details of his capture were available.
He was a general, presidential adviser, a member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle, commander of the Baath Party Regional Command, member of the Revolutionary Command Council, and head of the Central Workers Bureau.
In April, coalition officials announced that a strike on al-Majid's house killed him and that troops had recovered his body. That day, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "We believe that the reign of terror of Chemical Ali has come to an end."
But Thursday, U.S. officials said they have taken him into custody.
Group linked to Al Qaeda suspected in bombing
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials say a terror group linked to al Qaeda is emerging as a top suspect in the deadly blast at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.
An official told CNN that intelligence reports in the past two weeks indicated Ansar al-Islam might be planning a major attack in Iraq, and a top U.S. official in the country also said he suspects the group could have launched Tuesday's strike that killed at least 23 people.
"It's part of a global war against terrorism that was officially declared on us on September 11," U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer said Wednesday. "It's quite clear we do have terrorists inside Iraq now."
Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, was among those killed Tuesday, and others are believed to be dead under the rubble. (Profile of Vieira de Mello)
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The FBI has taken the lead on the investigation. (Bombing scene)
But Bremer said that foreign terrorists or Ansar al-Islam could have been involved in the U.N. attack and the deadly Jordanian Embassy blast on August 7.
"After the war, it appears that a number of terrorists from the Ansar al-Islam group have reinfiltrated into Iraq," Bremer said. "We are concerned about that. We also have other foreign terrorists who've been arriving from other borders."
He said people are entering the country with travel documents from countries such as Sudan, Syria and Yemen. "This we know because we have killed or captured a number of them," he said.
Pentagon officials said the bomb attack at the U.N. complex appears more sophisticated than would be expected from Saddam Hussein loyalists. However, they cautioned that members of the Mukhabarat, the former Iraqi intelligence service, would have the expertise to use explosives.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday vowed the world body will press ahead with its efforts in Iraq.
"We will carry on our work," he said. "We shall not be deterred. We are going to keep at it until we succeed."
Of those who carried out the attack, he said, "This is not going to serve their cause."
The United States is seeking a U.N. resolution to encourage more countries to send troops to join the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq in the wake of the deadly bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are to meet separately Thursday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. (Full story)
U.N. reassessing security
In the carnage, one person is still unaccounted for, U.N. officials said. Eighty-six people were hospitalized, of which at least 20 of them were evacuated to Jordan for treatment, they said. At least nine of the bodies recovered so far have been identified as U.N. employees.
"For people who went into Iraq with only the objective of assisting the people of Iraq to be killed in such a violent and senseless manner is something that none of us will ever comprehend," Annan said.
The bombing was the single most deadly attack in Iraq since the Bush administration declared an end to major combat operations on May 1. (Full story)
Investigators said the explosives-laden truck was packed with "military-grade munitions" similar to those used by Saddam's armed forces.
Pentagon officials said a key objective is to analyze the detonator used in the attack. They said they want to determine whether a so-called "shaped charge" was used that would have forced the bomb blast in the direction of the building to achieve maximum damage.
These types of directional charges are a longtime hallmark of al Qaeda attacks.
"This was not a homemade bomb," said Tom Fuentes, the FBI agent leading the investigation. He noted that parts manufactured in the Soviet era were found among the explosives -- fragments from mortars, artillery shells, grenades and a 500-pound bomb.
Fuentes said investigators were able to comb through the area where the truck bomb detonated. They got into the bomb crater, took chemical samples, retrieved vehicle parts and found some human remains, he said.
Tuesday's attack has spurred concern over how to implement security measures in Iraq. Bremer said all foreign missions will meet Friday to talk about tougher precautions.
Asked about a report that the United Nations in Baghdad declined an offer of increased security from U.S.-led coalition forces, Annan said that even if it were the case U.N. personnel should not have been allowed to do so.
"First of all, I was surprised that we would turn down such an offer. And secondly, that kind of decision should not be left to the protected," he said. "It is those with the responsibility for security and law and order who have the intelligence which determines what action is taken."
CNN Correspondents Rym Brahimi and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030821/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_chemical_ali&cid=540&ncid=716
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON - The former high-ranking Iraqi official known as "Chemical Ali" is in the custody of U.S. forces, a senior defense official said Thursday.
Ali Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), once ran Iraq (news - web sites)'s armed forces. Opponents gave him his nickname for his role in 1988 chemical weapons attacks that killed thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq.