December 24, 2005
Man who supplied Saddam's chemicals guilty of war crime
By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor
A DUTCH businessman was found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday for helping Saddam Hussein to acquire the chemical weapons that he used to kill thousands of Kurdish civilians in the Iran-Iraq war.
The ruling by a court in The Hague — which could have an impact on the trial of the former Iraqi dictator in Baghdad — also said that genocide had been perpetrated against Kurds in Iraq after Saddam accused them of collaborating with Iran.
The court found Frans van Anraat guilty of multiple counts of war crimes, violating the laws and customs of war and causing death and serious bodily harm to the whole or entire Kurdish population, but not guilty of genocide.
Scores of relatives of victims, some in colourful Kurdish dress, followed the proceedings in a separate room through interpreters into English, Farsi and Arabic. When the verdict was read out dozens danced outside the courthouse. Some held banners reading “Halabja genocide — never again”, a reference to the Iraqi Kurdish town where 5,000 civilians were killed by chemical weapons in 1988.
The court also awarded damages of £7,000 each to 15 victims. “These attacks were committed with the intent to destroy the Kurdish population of Iraq,” the ruling said. “The court finds the intent of destruction was targeted against part of the Kurdish group as part of a genocidal intent.”
Prosecutors accused Van Anraat of delivering more than 1,000 tonnes of thiodiglycol. It can be used to make mustard gas, which causes horrific burns to the lungs and eyes and is often fatal.
Van Anraat was first arrested in 1989 in Italy on a US warrant. He then fled to Baghdad where he lived for 14 years under an assumed name. After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 he made his way back to the Netherlands, where he was arrested a year ago.