US says "Chemical Ali" execution not imminent

BAGHDAD, Sep 7 (Reuters) The US military said today it was unaware of any plan by Iraq's government to carry out a death sentence against Saddam Hussein's cousin, widely known as ''Chemical Ali'', in the ''near term''.

An Iraqi appeals court on Tuesday upheld Ali Hassan al-Majeed's death sentence for planning and directing a military campaign in 1988 that prosecutors said killed up to 180,000 Kurds. The sentence must be carried out within 30 days.

Since then, rumours have been rife that the government plans to execute him ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in mid-September.

Several media reports said today that the US military was about to hand over Majeed to the Iraqi authorities so that they could hang him.

''These are all rumours not grounded in fact. We control Chemical Ali. He has not been moved,'' said US Navy Captain John Fleming, spokesman for US detention operations in Iraq.

''We know of no plans for the near term for the execution of that sentence,'' he said, referring to the appeal court decision.

Sunni Arabs in Iraq accused the Shi'ite-led government of acting with unseemly haste in carrying out the death sentence of Saddam on December. 30, just four days after a court rejected his appeal in a separate case.

Sunni Arab governments, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, also criticised the timing of the execution, which took place at the start of the Eid al-Adha religious feast.

The appeals court this week also upheld the death sentences against two other accused in Majeed's trial -- Sultan Hashim, Saddam's former defence minister, and Hussein Rashid, the former deputy head of operations for the Iraqi military.

Majeed has also just gone on trial for his role in crushing a Shi'ite rebellion in southern Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. Prosecutors in that case had warned he could be executed before the trial was completed.

REUTERS SLD PM1805