World News 22-08-2003 Chemical Ali Captured who: Ali Hassan al-Majid aka `Chemical Ali` what: Captured by Americans, says Pentagon where: Washington DC when: Yesterday snippet: "Saddam`s mass-murdering henchman Chemical Ali has been seized by US troops and could solve the riddle of Iraq`s missing weapons of mass destruction," reckons The Sun this morning. 62-year-old Ali Hassan al-Majid "masterminded Iraq`s chemical warfare programme and got his nickname after using the weapons to murder 5,000 Kurds in a single day." "Majid was number five on the Americans` most-wanted list and there have been calls from human rights groups for him to be put on trial for crimes against humanity," says The Independent. In April he was reported dead and British military officials said they had recovered his body. "But the Americans were never that categorical, and in June they suggested he was still alive." "With Majid in their hands, Washington could claim to have captured Saddam`s main instrument of repression," says Suzanne Goldenberg in The Guardian. "It all but completes the elimination of the top tier of the most notorious members of Saddam`s regime - barring the dictator himself." "I heard he used to dissolve people in acid. He wasn`t a man, he was an animal," says Mustafa, a 22-year-old waiter, in a vox pop by The Times on the streets of Baghdad. "He should be executed immediately, without trial." [... more]

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