UK military believe they have body of 'Chemical Ali'

The death of Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's most feared enforcer, was all but officially confirmed yesterday.

The British military are confident they have the body of the man better known as "Chemical Ali" – for his use of poison gas to slaughter Iraqi Kurds in 1988 – but commanders said the identification process was still under way.

Air Marshal Brian Burridge, the British forces commander, said: "We've recovered some bodies but positive identification is ongoing." Then he added: "I have to say that open sources locally in Basra say that's the man."

The people with most reason to fear him, the Kurds, were already rejoicing. Nadi Hakki, a Kurdish leader exiled in Britain, said: "It's very good news. He killed thousands and thousands of Iraqis. People were terrorised by this man."

Assuming the body the British are holding is indeed General Majid's, then he was killed by an air strike called in by British special forces in the early hours of Saturday.

One of the biggest scalps the Allies can hope to claim, his death sends a powerful message that the collapse of President Saddam's regime cannot be far off.

"Chemical Ali", 62, met his end, according to British military sources, after he was seen entering a building in Basra housing Baath party officials. Special forces troops marked the house and then guided in a Harrier jump-jet and its laser-guided bombs.

A first bomb failed to explode but nine minutes later a second strike, combined with an artillery barrage, demolished the building, killing the group inside. Corpses of General Majid's bodyguards were identified at the weekend.

"Chemical Ali" may, as Patrick Cockburn notes in his biography of the Iraqi President, have had a high-pitched "whiney" voice, but he was President Saddam's hatchet man. He was responsible "for some of the regime's worst crimes, including genocide and crimes against humanity", according to the Human Rights Watch organisation.

On the eve of the invasion three weeks ago, he was put in charge of defending southern Iraq, a coded threat to the Allies that chemical weapons might be used against their forces.

"Chemical Ali" was a cousin of President Saddam and one of the close family members who formed part of the dictator's inner circle. He was regarded by the opposition as one of the four pillars of the regime, the other three being the leader and his sons Uday and Qusay.

"Chemical Ali" earned his nickname in 1987 when he was appointed secretary general of the Baath Northern Bureau in charge of suppressing the Kurds. Enthusiastically, he set about masterminding the Antal, or Spoils of War campaign, to punish Kurds who had rebelled against Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq war. Within two years, up to 200,000 Kurds had been slaughtered.

Hussein Kamel and Saddam Kamel, who were married to President Saddam's daughters, were killed on General Majid's orders after defecting to Jordan in 1995.