Ali Hassan al-Majid, the cousin of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, has been executed in Iraq for crimes against humanity.

Later recognised as one of the president's most feared military leaders, al-Majid's rise to power came only after his cousin became president.

It was under Saddam that Majid became a general, defence minister and trusted member of the president's inner circle.

But it was during the government's campaign against the Kurds in northern Iraq that Majid's most notorious crimes took place.

Al Jazeera's Tarek Bazley reports.