"The execution is just and it fills me with a joy that I cannot describe," said Kulala Mohammed, 40, who lost two brothers in the attacks.

"I went to pray at the grave of my brothers and to tell them: 'You can now rest in peace. Your enemy has gone forever and Halabja can be reborn,'" he told AFP.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known by his macabre nickname, was hanged on Monday after being ordered executed for the Halabja attack, the fourth death sentence handed down against the infamous henchman of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.