Dutch prosecutors ask judges to strip war criminal of profits from selling gas to Saddam
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Prosecutors in the Netherlands are asking judges to confiscate just over €1 million in profits made by a businessman from selling chemicals to Saddam Hussein that the Iraqi dictator turned into poison gas.
A Dutch court convicted Frans van Anraat of war crimes in 2005. He is serving a 16 ½ -year prison sentence.
Judges ruled that he was Iraq's sole supplier of a chemical called TDG, or thiodiglycol, used to make mustard gas that was later unleashed in a deadly attack on Kurdish rebels.
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Prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday the latest request is an appeal after judges earlier ordered a smaller amount confiscated.
It is unclear whether they will recover the profits. Van Anraat claims he spent his money fleeing from country to country after Saddam's regime fell.