Earlier, the court said that although it felt it was proven that the former Iraqi ruler committed genocide against Kurds in the 1980s, Van Anraat was acquitted of charges of complicity in genocide.

The court said it could not be proven that he knew of the Iraqi regime's genocidal intentions.

"The attacks caused the deaths of many people and caused much suffering among the survivors," the court said in its ruling.

"The crimes are of such a grave nature that even the maximum sentence cannot do them justice," the judges said before sentencing the Dutchman to the maximum of 15 years in prison.

Under international law, genocide carries a special burden of proof, namely that a suspect had a specific intent or knew of a specific intent to commit genocide, in order to come to a conviction.

For war crimes the burden of proof is less, which explains why Van Anraat was convicted on war crimes charges based on the same evidence.

The Dutch ruling marks the first time a court has ruled that Saddam committed genocide in Iraq with the 1988 massacre of Kurds in the town of Halabja.

The attack, which killed more than 5,000 people in a single day, also features among the preliminary charges against the former Iraqi ruler who is currently on trial in Baghdad.

The court said 63-year old Van Anraat, who acted as a sort of middleman, buying chemicals on the world market and selling them on to Iraq despite export bans in place in the 1980s, acted "out of the love of profit".

The court said it was legally established that the businessman supplied chemicals including thiodiglycol and phosphorus oxychloride, both ingredients for mustard and nerve gases to Iraq between 1985 and 1988.

Iraq then used the ingredients Van Anraat sold to make nerve gas used in deadly attacks on Kurdish villages in Iraq and Iran.

According to the judges, Van Anraat "must have known" that the chemicals he provided could be used to make poison gas. During the court case Van Anraat admitted to selling the chemical components to Iraq, but always maintained that he was not aware of the use to which they were put.

Van Anraat was not present in court for the verdict but his lawyers told ANP news agency that they would appeal the ruling.

Van Anraat was arrested in Italy in 1989 on a US warrant but later fled to Iraq where he lived for 14 years under a new name given to him by the Iraqi regime, Faris Mansour Rasheed al Bazzaz, meaning "the courageous and intelligent fabric salesman".

He remained in Iraq until US-led forces invaded the country in 2003, and then returned to the Netherlands, Dutch officials said, where he was arrested in December 2004 on charges of complicity in genocide and war crimes.

Despite the Dutch court having issued the first legal ruling on whether Halabja amounted to genocide, observers say it remains uncertain if this might affect the Iraq tribunal trying Saddam and others.

"The Iraq tribunal will have to take into account international law as established by, for instance, UN ad hoc tribunals, but not necessarily Dutch law," explained Heikelina Verrijn Stuart, a Dutch lawyer and commentator who has followed the Van Anraat trial.