BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majeed, the Saddam Hussein henchman widely known as "Chemical Ali", yesterday to death by hanging for a 1988 gas attack that killed about 5,000 Kurds, a court official said.

Majeed, a cousin of Saddam's who earned his nickname because of his use of poison gas, was convicted for an attack on the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja. He already faces death sentences in three other cases.

The gassing of the town was considered the most extensive use of chemical weapons on civilians in history.