TEHRAN -- At an appealing hearing, the International Court of Justice intensified the verdict against Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat, who had provided banned chemicals to the Iraqi government for its chemical weapons program, from 15 years to 17 years of imprisonment, Alborz website reported on Friday.

Van Anraat was convicted in 2005 of complicity in war crimes and sentenced to the maximum 15 years for selling chemicals to Saddam, whose weapons engineers turned them into poison gas that killed thousands of Kurds and Iranians, AP reported.

But the court ruled it was not proven that Van Anraat knew the chemicals would be used as part of what prosecutors called a genocidal campaign against Kurds in northern Iraq, and cleared him of complicity in genocide.

Prosecutor Simon Minks urged a four-judge panel in The Hague Appeals Court to also convict 64-year-old Van Anraat of the genocide charge, which carries a maximum 30-year sentence. Van Anraat's chemical sales to Iraq "are so ... objectionable that they deserve the maximum sentence even if that is only 15 years," Minks said. "The sentence should send a message to others here and overseas who are engaged in similar evil practices."

Saddam Hussein's secret service praised the Dutch businessman for "rendering outstanding services" by selling Iraq "banned and rare chemicals" during the Iran-Iraq war.

Not only did Frans van Anraat "expose himself to extremely dangerous consequences" by selling the chemicals, he also did so "at a reasonable price compared to other offers," according to a Dutch translation of the 1992 letter from the secret service to Iraq's Industry Ministry cited by prosecutors.