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American Morning

U.S. Forces Confirming Capture of Man Known as 'Chemical Ali'

Aired August 21, 2003 - 09:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also big news out of Iraq this morning. U.S. forces are confirming the capture of the man known as Chemical Ali. He is believed to have ordered that deadly chemical weapons attack against the Kurds back in 1988.
Chris Plante has the latest for us from the Pentagon.

He truly, Chris, was one of the most, or maybe still is one of the most feared and hated men in all of Iraq.

Is that accurate?

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That would be fair enough to say. His full name is Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti, the al-Tikriti part referring to his hometown of Tikrit, which is also Saddam Hussein's hometown. He has been a member of Saddam Hussein's inner cricle at least since the early 1980s. He is the king of spades in the deck of cards, number five on the most wanted list. And he is, as you mentioned, believed to have been behind the campaign in 1988 known as the Anfall Campaign against the Kurdish population in new Iraq, where chemical weapons were used again and again. Many, many thousands of Kurds killed by Saddam Hussein's regime in those attacks.

Mr. Al-Majeed was also in charge of the occupation of Kuwait in 1990-91 and then was believed to be responsible for the crackdown on the Shiite population in the south in 1991, where perhaps as many as 100,000 were killed there, perhaps 100,000 also killed in the Kurdish territories in the north in 1988.

Now, Human Rights Watch has called for prosecution of Mr. Al- Majeed in the past for crimes against humanity and for war crimes for these activities. He was reported killed in April during a bombardment, a claim that the U.S. had made for some time. They then reeled that claim back in and decided that they didn't know for sure whether he had been killed in that raid. Now it's pretty clear he wasn't.

He was taken into custody several days ago, according to sources. The Pentagon still not officially acknowledging that he was captured, but the news sort of squirted out here earlier today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: As you mentioned, he was one of Saddam Hussein's inner circle, a cousin of Saddam Hussein, as well. So give me a sense of, a perspective on just how important this capture is. Are there expectations that he could lead U.S. forces to Saddam Hussein?

PLANTE: Well, there's certainly hope that he will be able to lead U.S. forces to, perhaps not only where Saddam Hussein may be -- it's not clear to us certainly at this point whether Mr. Al-Majeed was involved in the opposition to the coalition forces there. It's not clear, at least to me, when he may have last been in contact with Saddam Hussein. But, as a senior member, perhaps weapons of mass destruction, perhaps Saddam Hussein. More news to come -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Chris Plante at the Pentagon for us this morning.

Chris, thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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Aired August 21, 2003 - 09:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also big news out of Iraq this morning. U.S. forces are confirming the capture of the man known as Chemical Ali. He is believed to have ordered that deadly chemical weapons attack against the Kurds back in 1988.
Chris Plante has the latest for us from the Pentagon.

He truly, Chris, was one of the most, or maybe still is one of the most feared and hated men in all of Iraq.

Is that accurate?

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That would be fair enough to say. His full name is Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti, the al-Tikriti part referring to his hometown of Tikrit, which is also Saddam Hussein's hometown. He has been a member of Saddam Hussein's inner cricle at least since the early 1980s. He is the king of spades in the deck of cards, number five on the most wanted list. And he is, as you mentioned, believed to have been behind the campaign in 1988 known as the Anfall Campaign against the Kurdish population in new Iraq, where chemical weapons were used again and again. Many, many thousands of Kurds killed by Saddam Hussein's regime in those attacks.

Mr. Al-Majeed was also in charge of the occupation of Kuwait in 1990-91 and then was believed to be responsible for the crackdown on the Shiite population in the south in 1991, where perhaps as many as 100,000 were killed there, perhaps 100,000 also killed in the Kurdish territories in the north in 1988.

Now, Human Rights Watch has called for prosecution of Mr. Al- Majeed in the past for crimes against humanity and for war crimes for these activities. He was reported killed in April during a bombardment, a claim that the U.S. had made for some time. They then reeled that claim back in and decided that they didn't know for sure whether he had been killed in that raid. Now it's pretty clear he wasn't.

He was taken into custody several days ago, according to sources. The Pentagon still not officially acknowledging that he was captured, but the news sort of squirted out here earlier today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: As you mentioned, he was one of Saddam Hussein's inner circle, a cousin of Saddam Hussein, as well. So give me a sense of, a perspective on just how important this capture is. Are there expectations that he could lead U.S. forces to Saddam Hussein?

PLANTE: Well, there's certainly hope that he will be able to lead U.S. forces to, perhaps not only where Saddam Hussein may be -- it's not clear to us certainly at this point whether Mr. Al-Majeed was involved in the opposition to the coalition forces there. It's not clear, at least to me, when he may have last been in contact with Saddam Hussein. But, as a senior member, perhaps weapons of mass destruction, perhaps Saddam Hussein. More news to come -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Chris Plante at the Pentagon for us this morning.

Chris, thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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