Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

""'" .~-.-
Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
de la Prensa.,.Basm Özeti
~.
It can only emerge if America gets the
basics right - water, jobs and electricity
- and lets Iraqis run things faster. "Let
.Iraqis take the credit; let them take the
,blame," Barzani said. "We need Iraqis to
:face their own problems and each other,
,and right now you're in the way." .
I heard a similar message just a few
days ago from Sergio Vieira de Mello, •
the chief UN officer in Baghdad, who
was killed in the bombing Tuesday. We
met over Lebanese beer and pistachios
at his hotel, andhe told me how much .
he believed that Iraqis could build a different
Iraq, if they were given half a
chance. Like me, he was a congenital
optimist, who believed in people's bet- .
ter angels. His senseless death is heartbreaking.
It's also a challenge. Whoever blew
up the UN office in Baghdad was trying
to blow up Iraq's future. Yes, America
must work harder now and devolve
'Chemical Ali' is taken
.into custody in Iraq
By Bill Brink
the Gulf war. He was also linked to the
-------------- brutal crackdown on Shiites in South-
Ali HaSsan aI-Majid, a cousin andern Iraq following their uprising after
trusted adviser ofSaddam Hussein who that war.
earned a reputation for ruthlessness by The capture of Majid represents anusing
poison gas to suppress a Kurdish other step in the military's effort to
uprising in 1988,has beeil captured, the wipê out any lin~ering influence of the
American military said Thursday.
The United Statas Central Command ,fragmented remnants of Saddam's government.
in Tampa, Florida, announced the cap-: Last month, a United States raid in .
ture of Majid but gave no details on
where he was detained or how. Majid Mosul killed two of Saddam's sons,
was No.5 on the allied forces' list of the Uday and Q.usay, and soon afterward
55most wanted Iraqis.
,soldie~ seized four men they believe,d
Majid bad earned the nickname to be Important me~bers ~f Saddam s
"Chemical Ali" after he used chémical: former government, l~cludlD~ one who,
weapons against the Kurds in 1988.Hu- was thought to be his longtime body- .
man rights groups say that Majid inspired
the murder or disappearance of
guard. . . ,
Earher. thIS week, ,the former
.
Iraqi
about 100,000 Kurds, the foiced remov- vice preSident, Ta!ta Yassln, Ramadan
al of many more, as well as the des truc- was arr~sted, a!s? InMosu~. .
tion of hundreds of Kurdish villages Ame~can mllitary.offic.lais behe~ed
and communities. ~t ~Jld ~d be~n killed Ina bombing
Hisnotoriety increased in 1990 when raid In April, but ID early June, ~efense
he was appointed Iraq's chief adminis- Secretary Donald Rumsfel~ sal~ that
trator Jn Kuwait .in the months before there was a chance he was still ahve.
more power to Iraqis faster. But when.
all is said and done, only Iraqis can rescue
this place. Only they can' show
whether the diverse communities that
make up Iraq can rule themselves and
take on their evil. angels within. Only
they can prove whether Iraqis ~ve a
collective will to be free and united.
Only they can really tell us the true .
identity of the people on the other side
of the July 14bridge.
"There was some speculationàfter-'
ward that they thought that he had been
killed, " Rumsfeld said at the time. "Now
. there's some speculation tbat he may be
alive. But I just don't know."
Majid belonged to a clan that intermarried
with Saddam's family in the
Tikrit region north of Baghdad.
According to several military specialists,
he rose through the ranks of
Iraq's intelligence and internal security
services to become one of Saddam's
closest aides.
His brother, Hussein Kamal aI-Majid,
was appointed oil minister after the invasion
of Kuwait.
In mid-MaJ'ch, during the American'
invasion of Iraq, Saddam ,appointed
Majid to direct the defense of southern
Iraq.
'..'
At the time, American officials spec-
. ulated that Majid had been appointed
either to ensure that the restive Shiites
of southern Iraq remained loyal' to
Baghdad or to i~plement a military
strategy devised to blunt or undermine
the invasion.
"We fully recognize his image and
his track record," a military official said
at thetime.
After the fall of Saddam's regime in
April, Majid's house in Baghdad was explored.
A storehouse behind the house
portrayed a man'with
..-Western indulgences .
a large taste for
. , Among the items that were carried
. away by the looters was a battery-
.powered model of a Ferrari, a'Japanese
motorized water scooter, a parachute, a
video library that included dozens of
Hollywood movies of the past decade,
more than 100 racing car wheels. and
the entire fittings .for a luxury European
kitchen.
The New York TImes
Adnan Ha) AIiITIle Associated Press
Majid inspired the killing or cUsappearanceof about 100,000 Kurds. rights groups say.
August 22, 2003
. .
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