Abstract
Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known in the West as "Chemical Ali", was charged on August 8, 2007, along with fourteen others, for the massacre of Iraq's Shi'ites in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. Tens of thousands were killed in the uprising which the U.S. urged but failed to support. Iraqi High Tribunal Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi announced that the trial would begin on August 21. Formal charges range from crimes against humanity to genocide. Al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin and frequent military commander of choice, was instrumental in brutally repressing post-Gulf War uprisings. There is just one snag in this process. Al-Majid may be dead within weeks of entering his plea in this trial.