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"Chemical Ali" suffers heart attack

Iran's Press TV reports “Chemical Ali” suffered a heart attack and was presumably returned to U.S. custody? Or am I reading into this.  Says he was returned to a U.S. detention facility, but reading between the lines would lead you to believe he was NOT in a U.S. detention facility when he had the heart attack.  It's been expected his execution would happen soon and it seems Iraq and U.S. officials have been pretty tight lipped on this one.  And I welcome any and all conspiracy theories as heart attacks tend to be a favorite of the CIA.

Heart attack strikes ‘Chemical Ali’
Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:54:10

"Chemical Ali" suffers heart attack

Saddam Hussein's cousin, who is on death row, has been returned to a US detention facility after suffering a heart attack, officials say.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as ‘Chemical Ali’ for his role in using of poison gas to kill Kurdish villagers in the 1980s, was admitted to a US medical facility on Sunday.

Al-Majid, who has been sentenced to death after ouster of Saddam's regime on the charges of genocide, went on a hunger strike to protest his prison conditions.

His lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said al-Majid had suffered a heart attack as a result of his hunger strike.

A source from the US military confirmed that al-Majid had suffered a heart attack but said he was in stable condition and had been returned to a US detention facility on Tuesday.


Al-Majid's execution has been delayed for months.

 

Author

Daniel Graeber

Daniel Graeber is a writer for United Press International covering Iraq, Afghanistan and the broader Levant. He has published works on international and constitutional law pertaining to US terrorism cases and on child soldiers. His first major work, entitled The United States and Israel: The Implications of Alignment, is featured in the text, Strategic Interests in the Middle East: Opposition or Support for US Foreign Policy. He holds a MA in Diplomacy and International Conflict Management from Norwich University, where his focus was international relations theory, international law, and the role of non-state actors.

Areas of Focus:International law; Middle East; Government and Politics; non-state actors

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