A DUTCH businessman was found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday for helping Saddam Hussein to acquire the chemical weapons that he used to kill thousands of Kurdish civilians in the Iran-Iraq war.

The ruling by a court in The Hague — which could have an impact on the trial of the former Iraqi dictator in Baghdad — also said that genocide had been perpetrated against Kurds in Iraq after Saddam accused them of collaborating with Iran.

The court found Frans van Anraat guilty of multiple counts of war crimes, violating the laws and customs of war and causing death and serious bodily harm to the whole or entire Kurdish population, but not guilty of genocide.

Van Anraat, a portly 63-year-old, was not in court to hear the verdict and sentence. He has always maintained that he did not know the chemicals he sold to Iraq would be used to make poison gas. His lawyers said that they would appeal against yesterday’s ruling.

Scores of relatives of victims, some in colourful Kurdish dress, followed the proceedings in a separate room through interpreters into English, Farsi and Arabic. When the verdict was read out dozens danced outside the courthouse. Some held banners reading “Halabja genocide — never again”, a reference to the Iraqi Kurdish town where 5,000 civilians were killed by chemical weapons in 1988.

“I spoke to my family in Halabja and they cried with joy,” said Dana Habajal, who survived the crackdown by Iraqi forces against the Kurdish population. “I’m so happy, I don’t know what to say. I hope Saddam Hussein faces the same.”

The court also awarded damages of £7,000 each to 15 victims. “These attacks were committed with the intent to destroy the Kurdish population of Iraq,” the ruling said. “The court finds the intent of destruction was targeted against part of the Kurdish group as part of a genocidal intent.”

Prosecutors accused Van Anraat of delivering more than 1,000 tonnes of thiodiglycol. It can be used to make mustard gas, which causes horrific burns to the lungs and eyes and is often fatal.

He was also accused of importing chemicals to make nerve agents. The prosecution said that the lethal cargo was shipped from America via Belgium and Jordan to Iraq. He also imported other shipments from Japan via Italy.

Van Anraat was first arrested in 1989 in Italy on a US warrant. He then fled to Baghdad where he lived for 14 years under an assumed name. After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 he made his way back to the Netherlands, where he was arrested a year ago.

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