BAGHDAD, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The Iraqi government said on Thursday that the execution of Saddam Hussein's notorious hatchet man 'Chemical Ali', which has been delayed for weeks due to Muslim holidays and legal hitches, will happen 'in the coming days.'

Asked in a rare appearance at the White House whether Ali Hassan al-Majid would be hanged soon for genocide, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters: 'I think so, yes, in the coming days.'

WASHINGTON, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Saddam Hussein's notorious hatchet man 'Chemical Ali' will be executed 'in the coming days,' Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Thursday in a rare appearance at the White House.

Asked whether Ali Hassan al-Majid would be hanged soon, Dabbagh told reporters: 'I think so, yes, in the coming days.'

BAGHDAD, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The planned execution for genocide of Saddam's Hussein's notorious hatchet man 'Chemical Ali' has run into a legal hitch, two weeks after the passing of a deadline for his hanging.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last month delayed the hanging of Ali Hassan al-Majid until after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr which ended on Monday, well beyond the October 4 legal deadline for his execution.

BAGHDAD, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - The execution of Saddam Hussein's notorious hatchet man 'Chemical Ali', sentenced to hang for genocide, has been delayed, a senior Iraqi official said on Thursday.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, whose death sentence was upheld by the supreme court one month ago for presiding over the mass killings of Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s, should have been executed under Iraqi law by the end of Thursday.

Asked if Majid would be executed within that timeframe, a senior government official told AFP: 'Absolutely not.

BAGHDAD, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - There can be no clemency for three aides of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who are to be hanged for their roles in the 1988 massacre of ethnic Kurds, a senior judge said on Monday.

Moneer Haddad, a member of the Iraqi appeals court, told reporters that warnings by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that he would not sign the execution order of one of the condemned men would not prevent their hangings from taking place.

Haddad said Talabani had no authority to grant clemency for 'international' crimes such as genocide.

BAGHDAD, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Iraq's top court said on Tuesday it has confirmed the death sentence on 'Chemical Ali' and two other cohorts of Saddam Hussein convicted of genocide and they will be hanged within 30 days.

'The Iraqi Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence on Ali Hassan al-Majid, Sultan Hashim al-Tai and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti,' court chief Judge Aref Shaheen told a press conference.

Asked when the three would be executed, Shaheen replied: 'According to Iraqi law, sentence must be carried out withing 30 days, no more.'

BAGHDAD, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Ali Hassan al-Majid, whose sentence to hang for the mass killings of Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s was upheld on Tuesday, is the most notorious of executed dictator Saddam Hussein's former henchmen.

A cousin of Saddam, Majid earned the macabre nickname 'Chemical Ali' for ordering poisonous gas attacks in a brutal scorched-earth campaign of bombings and mass deportations that left an estimated 182,000 Kurds dead.

BAGHDAD, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - Ali Hassan al-Majid, who went on trial on Tuesday over the brutal oppression of Iraqi Shiites after the Gulf War, is the most notorious of executed dictator Saddam Hussein's former henchmen and has already been sentenced to hang for genocide.

Majid earned the grim nickname 'Chemical Ali' for ordering poisonous gas attacks against Kurds in a brutal scorched-earth campaign of bombings and mass deportations that left an estimated 182,000 Kurds dead.

LOS ANGELES, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - Laila Ali, the daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, has married retired American football star Curtis Conway in Los Angeles, entertainment press reported on Monday.

Ali, who like her father is a world champion boxer, tied the knot in front of 200 guests, People magazine reported.

The 29-year-old, a world champion at super-middleweight with 24 wins in 24 fights since turning professional in 1999, met former San Francisco 49ers player Conway two years ago.

LOS ANGELES, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - Boxing legend Muhammad Ali attended the wedding of his daughter Laila, a champion fighter in her own right, to former American football player Curtis Conway here on Sunday, People magazine reported.

The elder Ali, who at 65 is likely the best known athlete in the world, was banished from boxing 40 years ago for refusing induction into the US Army to fight in Vietnam and became a legend for humanitarian work after retiring.