FORMER Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed today along with his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, Iraqi television has said.

State-run Iraqiya television said in an announcement: "Criminal Saddam was hanged to death,'' and they played patriotic music with images of national monuments and other landmarks.
The station said Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were also hanged.

"The execution started with criminal Saddam, then Barzan, then Awad al-Bandar,'' an Iraqiya announcer said.

The station broadcast national songs and had a tag on the screen that read: "Saddam's execution marks the end of a dark period of Iraq's history.''

Saddam's death by hanging at dawn (2pm Australian time) was confirmed by the Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abbawi.

"I believe so, yes. He has been executed. It has been officially announced that he has been executed,'' Abbawi said, speaking by telephone to BBC News 24.

US-backed Iraqi Al Hurra television station said a Muslim cleric was present at the place of execution, but it did not say where that was.

Two witnesses due to attend the execution told Reuters earlier they had been summoned for 5.30 am (1.30pm AEST).

Arabiya television reported they were present at that hour.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gave an execution order overnight, with approval from the Iraqi President and justice minister, said a close party ally.

But the feast of Eid al-Adha from noon could have delayed the hanging if final details, including the site of the gallows and fate of the body, had not been agreed with the Americans.

Earlier, US federal judges had refused to halt the US military from handing over Saddam Hussein for execution after a last minute plea from his attorneys to keep him from the gallows.

The precise details are a closely-kept secret for security reasons but a lawyer for the deposed said the final paperwork and death order - known as the Red Card - had been completed.

"According to information in our possession, Saddam Hussein will be executed Saturday at dawn," he said.

Two of Saddam's brothers have visited him in his cell where he has given them personal belongings, as well as a copy of his will.

However, there remains confusion with the various parties involved all offering different versions of events.

The Americans deny they have handed him over from their custody to the Iraqis - which would be necessary before he was hanged.

"There has been no change in his status," US spokesman Tom Casey said. "He remains where he has been" and added he had "no information" on the timing of any transfer.

The Iraqi government has also previously indicated it would not carry out the sentence until next week.

Saddam was sentenced to hang by a court on November 5 for his role in the killing of 148 Shiite villagers in Dujail in 1982, in retaliation for an assassination attempt.

The sentence was upheld Tuesday by an Iraqi appeals court. As a result, it was decided the execution would be carried before the end of January.

The hanging is scheduled to take place somewhere within the heavily-fortified Green Zone. It is also due to be video-taped but the tape will not be released.

Najib Naimi, a former Qatar justice minister who served on Saddam's legal defence team, told the BBC's News 24: "We think he might be executed by tomorrow (today Sydney time) as a gift for the Iraqis."

"Maybe early tomorrow morning he might be executed ... we are now talking with them regarding the body itself," he said.

"We would like to have his body to return it to the family so they can bury him at any place they wish."

US troops have hitherto physically kept guard over Saddam and were expected to hold on to him until the last minute to avoid security breaches.

A source in the team that prosecuted Saddam for crimes against humanity said prosecutors, who should have a representative at any execution, had not yet been invited to attend.

The military in Baghdad, which includes many Australian servicemen and women, are on full alert for a violent backlash from Saddam's supporters.

Meanwhile, lawyers acting for Saddam have filed another court appeal in America calling for a stay of execution.

Technically, Saddam also faces charges under American law, which would not be able to proceed if he were executed.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5001021,00.html

This moment in history will no doubt re-ignite the debate over the death penalty. What are other forum members viewpoints on Saddam's execution as well as his regime? Should Saddam have been executed? If the video footage of his execution is released to the media, is this a breach of Saddam's human rights? Or did he lose his basic rights after killing so many in such a brutal fashion?

I am disgusted to the pit of my stomach by the spectacle of televised murder-to-order, hyped up cruel, snide and suited sheisters whose excited chatter I've been hearing, on and off, throughout the day on my zionist-spin only lie-machine (aka satellite TV).

IMO, history will record that Saddam Hussein was a strong leader who helped take his nation to new levels of prosperity. Sadly, he was suckered into embarking on wars by fake western allies - then stymied and eventually crushed by US & British Governments that no longer serve the interests of their respectives peoples - governments subverted, corrupted and ultimately controlled by agents of a foreign power.

I just watched images of Hussein on his way to the gallows.

I wonder whether, in similar circumstances, poodles like Bush or Blair would show such calm and dignity.

As for Olmert, would that snivelling drop-kick have mustered the courage to walk? I doubt it.

New dictators invariably execute leaders of the previous regime. In that sense, the present Iraqi government is just following tradition. However, everybody knows, this was a decision made by the United States. It was Paul Bremer, the US administrator of occupied Iraq, who in 2003 created the Iraq special court to try Saddam, and it is of course the Americans (not the Iraqis) who have held him captive and controlled access to him since his capture.

The court was created by a country which had invaded and occupied Iraq illegally. This occupying power also changed the laws of Iraq in contravention of the Geneva Convention, in order to make this possible.

The United States, unlike the rest of the democratic countries in the western world, is very keen on capital punishment. The execution of Saddam will obviously play well with the public in America. That might help Bush in the short-term but will only increase problems for US soldiers in Iraq. I expect this to be followed by an announcement by Robert Gates of an increase in the number of soldiers serving in Iraq.

It is a pity Saddam didn't get the opportunity to call Donald Rumsfeld as a witness and talk about the support the US gave to him when it suited them to do so.

They have shut his mouth for good now.

No doubt Mr Blair will have watched the execution on video with a few friends over cocktails.

Precisely.

Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants were convicted for crimes committed in the town of Dujail in 1982.

However, the link below shows Saddam shaking hands with a beaming Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq on December 20, 1983. Is it possible that Rumsfeld and his slimy friends were unaware of Saddam's acts of genocide the previous year? No, it isn't.

Is it possible that our disgusting western media (yes, that includes you Rupert) is unaware that American interests were actively courting this 'war criminal' after he had committed these crimes? No, it ain't.

Some may say Saddam was a murderous dictator. However, it can be argued that the US administration and its cowardly, mendacious media cheer squad occupy the same position as Saddam on the moral totem pole. I maintain they are even lower.

One will never find this picture in the mainstream media. They media is too cowardly to give the public access to all sides of the debate. Yes, that includes you Rupert.


http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/