Iraqis believe Chemical Ali is dead after bodyguard is killed in attack

The prospect that Ali Hassan al-Majid, the cousin of Saddam Hussein widely known as "Chemical Ali", may have been killed by Allied forces was one of several factors which tipped the balance in favour of British forces entering Basra yesterday.

British military sources confirmed yesterday that the corpse of the bodyguard of Majid, who allegedly ordered the gassing of thousands of Kurds in Halabja in 1988 and many other war crimes, was found in the wreckage of a destroyed Basra building.

Another military source said that although the body of Majid had not been found, many civilians in the area believed he had been killed in the building, attacked after he was seen entering it on Friday. About 20 Iraqi officials and others are believed to have been killed in the strike.

Military officials said civilians were less fearful of the regime after the apparent elimination of Majid, and so likely to be more warmly disposed to an incursion of British troops. There were unconfirmed reports of a demonstration in one part of the city celebrating his death.

President Saddam had put Majid in charge of southern Iraq weeks ago, and Chemical Ali was the target for a US marine attack a week ago in Shatra after he was reported to have a base there. He is believed to have been a key figure in organising the plainclothes paramilitaries harassing Allied forces throughout the country during the advance north to Baghdad.

General Victor Renuart, the US director of operations, also disclosed at the weekend that Majid had been seen at the hospital in Nasiriyah, also used as an Iraqi command post, from which US Private Jessica Lynch was snatched in a spectacular special forces rescue last week.

In 1987, the Iraqi general was made chief of the ruling Baath party in northern Iraq, entrusted with suppressing an uprising among the Kurdish minority. A year later he is believed to have ordered genocidal attacks with nerve and mustard gases on scores of villages, including Halabjah. At a meeting with Kurdish leaders he is supposed to have rejected suggestions that his offensive had claimed 182,000 lives, adding: "It couldn't have been more than 100,000."

When President Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990, he appointed Majid its governor. Hundreds of Kuwaitis are still missing and he would almost certainly face torture charges, if taken alive, for his treatment of prisoners in Kuwait. When the Shia majority rose after the Gulf War, President Saddam made him Interior Minister and ordered him to crush the revolt. He is said personally to have kicked and punched Shia prisoners and selected some for execution.

Another factor which may have helped to persuade British commanders to move into Basra was an article in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Aswat saying Baath party leaders in Basra had passed a message to a Shia cleric, Mohammed al-Bosslimi, saying they were afraid of reprisals from the citizens of Basra and wanted to arrange a surrender if Baghdad fell.

It said the cleric had met 12 of the Baath leaders two days before. In televised interviews on Saturday, British officers invited any clerics with information about Baathist intentions to make themselves known at checkpoints outside the city.