March 2 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's cousin "Chemical Ali" was given his third death sentence by an Iraqi court on Monday, this one for his involvement in killing and displacing Shi'ite Muslims in 1999.
Here are some facts on Ali Hassan al-Majeed, also known as Chemical Ali.
DEATH SENTENCES:
* After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led coalition forces, Majeed was captured in August 2003.
* Majeed was first sentenced to hang in June 2007 for his role in a military campaign against ethnic Kurds, codenamed Anfal -- Spoils of War -- after the title of a chapter in the Koran. The campaign took place from February until August 1988.
-- Separately, Majeed is on trial for the gassing of 5,000 Kurds in the village of Halabja in March 1988.
* In December 2008 he received his second death sentence, this one for his part in crushing a Shi'ite revolt after the 1991 Gulf War.
* Iraq's presidency council approved his execution at the end of February 2008 but legal wrangling has so far held up the execution.
RISE TO POWER:
* Like others in Saddam's inner circle, Majeed owed his rise to family ties to the Iraqi leader, who came to trust few beyond his Sunni Arab clan based around Tikrit, north of Baghdad.
* He played a key role in the purge of the Baath party in 1979, when Saddam, formally installed as head of state, sat on the stage of an auditorium and watched "traitors" being led away to their deaths after their names were called out.
GULF WAR:
* In August 1990, after the invasion of Kuwait, Saddam had appointed him military governor of what was deemed to be Iraq's "19th province" but replaced him three months later for fear his brutal reputation was strengthening the hand of Kuwait's allies.
* When a U.S.-led coalition expelled Iraqi forces from the emirate in 1991, Saddam appointed Majeed interior minister to help stamp out the Shi'ite rebellion sweeping southern Iraq.
