Marines: 'Chemical Ali' held meetings at POW hospital
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Gen. Ali Hassan al Majeed, known as “Chemical Ali,” commands Iraqi forces in southern Iraq.
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NASIRIYA, Iraq (CNN) -- Informants have told U.S. Marines that Gen. Ali Hassan al Majeed, President Saddam Hussein's cousin, recently conducted meetings of the Iraqi resistance in the same hospital in Nasiriya where a U.S. Army soldier was held prisoner.
Marines staged raids in southern Iraq seeking al Majeed earlier this week.
Al Majeed, the commander of Iraqi forces in southern Iraq, is widely known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering Iraqi forces to use chemical weapons on Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988.
According to an officer with a 2nd Marines reconnaissance unit, one informant, whose information was corroborated by other sources, told Marines that Al Majeed has been hiding his identity by dressing up in plain attire, so he can blend into the populace.
It was also reported that Al Majeed has been driving around in an old red car, possibly a 1979 Nissan.
The meetings in the hospital basement took place between representatives of the Baath party, Fedayeen, and paramilitary, the source said.
Military intelligence told CNN that Al Majeed is orchestrating the resistance to U.S. forces in southern Iraq and is said to be moving between small towns around Nasiriya, including Kut and Qulat Sikkar.
"The informant who told us this drew out a schematic of the hospital and said the basement was so secure we wouldn't be able to touch it with bombs," a Marine officer said. "We'd have go in there on foot."
The Iraqi told the Marines that the best entrance was a ramp into the hospital and gave them details on how to find it.
It was unclear whether this information was shared with the combined Special Forces units that rescued U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was held prisoner at the hospital, but the officer said it was passed up the chain of command ahead of the mission.
CNN has also learned that special operations units like Delta Force have been on the ground inside Nasiriya, destroying pockets of resistance.
