Saddam Hussein's former defense minister denies receiving order to use chemical weapons

By: SAMEER N. YACOUB - Associated Press Writer | Sunday, May 6, 2007 7:43 PM PDT ∞

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein's former defense minister said Sunday that he had no access to chemical weapons and received no orders to use them in an operation that killed tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds.

Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai's testimony was followed by the defense's closing statements in the trial of former regime officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in the 1980s campaign code-named Operation Anfal.

The prosecution says 180,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Also on trial is Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali" for allegedly ordering poison gas attacks against the Kurds.

If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to death by hanging.

Al-Tai, who was defense minister when Saddam was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2003, defiantly testified that he had not received orders from his superiors to use chemical weapons against the population when he was head of the Iraqi Army 1st Corps operating in the Kurdish region.

"I did not receive any order asking me to use chemical weapons, but if so I would have implemented it," he told the special tribunal. "I did not receive any chemical-related weapons."

Chief Prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon said al-Tai knew about the chemical attack, presenting a letter sent by his superiors asking him to use "special ammunition (chemical weapons) against enemy poison."

Other defendants on trial include Sabir al-Douri, former director of military intelligence; 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.

Saddam was a defendant in the case but was hanged last year after his conviction for the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail after a 1982 attempt on his life.

Al-Tai, a Sunni Arab from the northern city of Mosul, surrendered to U.S. forces in September 2003 after weeks of negotiations.

The defense noted that the Americans had promised al-Tai "protection and good treatment" before his surrender. Al-Tai's lawyer also said that his client was only defending his country against Iranian attacks in northern Iraq during the 1980-88 war between the two countries.

- Associated Press writer Hamid Ahmed in Baghdad contributed to this story.

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