Iraq's "Chemical Ali" admitted to hospital

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali", has been admitted to a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad and is in stable condition, the military said on Monday.

"We know that yesterday he was admitted into a coalition forces medical facility. He is currently in stable condition," Military spokeswoman Captain Rose Richardson said.

She said she could give no further details about his condition. An Iraqi legal source also confirmed that Majeed's health had deteriorated and that he had been taken to U.S. military hospital, but gave no further details.

Majeed, along with two other senior former officials, was sentenced to death last June for his role in Saddam's "Anfal" military campaign in the 1980s, in which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed.

He was dubbed "Chemical Ali" by Saddam's opponents for his role in using of poison gas to kill Kurdish villagers.

Legal wrangling has so far held up the executions of the three men.

President Jalal Talabani and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi say they oppose executing the other two officials, former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem and former army general Hussein Rashid Muhammed, because they were military men obeying orders.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government says it will not take custody of Majeed from U.S. forces until it can execute all three men at the same time.

Saddam was also initially tried for the Anfal killings, but was hanged before the trial was finished on an earlier conviction for killing Shi'ite villagers.

(Reporting by Peter Graff and Ahmed Rasheed; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Keith Weir)