Three U.S. companies are being sued for selling material to the former Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein used in his chemical weapon attacks against Iraqi Kurds.
Five Iraqi expatriates filed a class action lawsuit this week in the U.S. state of Maryland, accusing the companies of violating the Geneva Conventions in connection with the attacks. The Republic of Iraq is also named in the suit.
Saddam's government used various chemical weapons in the anti-Kurd Anfal campaign in the late 1980's. At a ceremony last month honoring victims in Halabja, one of the most infamous attacks, Iraq's environment minister Narim Osman told VOA Kurdish Service foreign companies should be put on trial for their role in the killings.
The companies being sued are Alcolac, VWR International, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
