ALI BYE-BYE:

U.K.: 'Chemical Ali' Found Dead in Basra (TINI TRAN, 4/07/03, Associated Press)

Ali Hassan al-Majid, one of the most brutal members of President Saddam Hussein's inner circle, was apparently killed by an airstrike on his house in Basra, British officials said Monday. He had been dubbed "Chemical Ali" by opponents for ordering a 1988 poison gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds.

Maj. Andrew Jackson of the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment told The Associated Press that his superiors had reported the death of the man who was Saddam's first cousin, entrusted with defending southern Iraq against invading coalition forces.

Jackson said the apparent discovery of al-Majid's body was one of the reasons the British decided to move infantry into Basra, because they hoped that resistance in the southern Iraqi city might crumble with the top leadership gone.

"The regime is finished. It is over, and liberation is here," said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces in the Gulf. "The leadership is now gone in southern Iraq."

JQA was wrong; one monster at a time... Posted by Orrin Judd at April 7, 2003 10:11 AM