Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Sun 04 Apr 2003Iraq says 'Chemical Ali' is still aliveThe US military says a bodyguard attached to the Iraqi commander known as "Chemical Ali" has been killed in a precision airstrike, but Iraq has dismissed reports the military chief himself may have died in the attack.Asked whether Chemical Ali had been killed when US forces bombed his house in the southern city of Basra early on Saturday, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf told reporters in Baghdad: "Let them (bask) in their illusions."