Iraq is awaiting a response from US President George W. Bush over the fate of "Chemical Ali," whose execution along with two other former aides of Saddam Hussein has been delayed, an Iraqi official said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last week wrote to Bush asking him to order the US military in Baghdad to hand over Ali Hassan al-Majid, widely known as "Chemical Ali," for execution, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said late on Sunday.
"We are waiting. We have not yet received a response," Dabbagh said.
Majid, Sultan Hashim al-Tai, Saddam's defense minister, and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, his armed forces deputy chief of operations, were sentenced to death on June 24 for their roles in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds in 1988.
The US military which is holding the three men says they will be handed over for execution only after a legal row between Iraqi officials is resolved. The delay has been due to differences within the government over the legal and procedural requirements for carrying out the sentences handed down by the Iraqi High Tribunal, the court set up to try former regime officials.
Under Iraqi law, the three men were supposed to have been executed by Oct. 4, 30 days after their sentences were upheld by the Iraqi Supreme Court.
Maliki did not want the executions to go ahead during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended on Oct. 15, because of the outcry that followed Saddam's hanging during another Muslim holiday last year.
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