Saddam Hussein’s notorious enforcer ‘Chemical Ali’ was executed for crimes against humanity, as the Iraqi capital was again rocked by a series of suicide bombings that left dozens dead.
Ali Hassan Al Majid, who received his fourth death sentence last week for the poison gas attacks that killed 5,000 Kurds in 1988, was hanged on Monday, an Iraqi government spokesman said.
News of the execution came immediately after Baghdad was hit by three suicide bomb attacks - which killed at least 36 people and injured another 70.
It is not clear whether the bombing was linked to the death of Al Majid.
All three explosions targeted popular hotels in the city - the Sheraton, the Babylon Hotel and the Hamra Hotel - rather than government buildings.
Bombings in August, October and December last year - which killed almost 400 people - were directed against the ministries of finance, foreign affairs and justice.
The attacks come as Iraq prepares to go to the polls in March - the second election in the country since the US-led invasion in 2003.
By Monday evening in the Iraqi capital, no group had come forward to claim responsibility for the attack.
However, newspaper columnists have already begun to speculate over the reasons for the attack, which appeared to be timed to coincide with the death of Al Majid.
On January 17, Al Majid was sentenced to death for ordering the gassing of Kurds in the northeastern town of Halabja.
The gassing became known as one of the worst atrocities of late dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime, and killed an estimated 5,000 people with a deadly cocktail of mustard gas and the nerve agents Tabun, Sarin and VX.
Three-quarters of the victims at Halabja were women and children.
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