On January 28, Ali Hassan al-Majid, the cousin of Saddam Hussein nicknamed "Chemical Ali" again took full responsibility for the crimes committed against Iraq's Kurd population in the 1980s - crimes for which he and 6 other defendants are standing trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal in the Anfal case. "I am the one who gave orders to the army to demolish villages and relocate the villagers. The army was responsible [for carrying] out those orders," he declared, according to AP. Two weeks earlier, he had admitted without batting an eyelash that he had ordered the execution of people who had not heeded the government's orders to leave the villages on Iranian border during the repression of Iraqi Kurds. "I am not defending myself. I am not apologizing. I did not make mistake," Majid told the judges. He is on trial for genocide and faces the death penalty. Saddam Hussein was also appearing as a defendant in this case until his execution on December 30.