Chemical Ali caught

1.00am

BAGHDAD - Ali Hassan al-Majid, a feared cousin of Saddam Hussein nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for his use of poison gas in attacks, has been captured by United States forces in Iraq, the US military confirmed early this morning.

It said it had no further details of where Majid had been detained.

He was No 5 on the US list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis.

US and British military in early April targeted Majid in a bomb attack in Basra.

British officials said at the time they believed they had recovered his body.

But a nurse in Baghdad days later said he was in a hospital there joking with staff before making his escape.

Majid played a leading role in the violent suppression of Iraq's Kurdish and Shi'ite Muslim rebels and the seven-month occupation of Kuwait which began in 1990.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq