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| Politics
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| Hanging of Saddam's aides filmed |
| Iraqi government officials have shown journalists video of the hanging of two of Saddam Hussein's aides, during which one of the men was decapitated
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 15-January-2007
10:24:55 AM |
| The film shows Barzan Ibrahim - Saddam Hussein's half-brother - and Awad Hamed al-Bandar hanged side-by-side.
Barzan, former intelligence chief, and al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were convicted over the killing of 148 Shias in 1982.
The government said Barzan's beheading was accidental.
The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says the video first shows both men being prepared for execution standing next to each other.
They were both dressed in orange boiler suits
Executioners in balaclavas placed hoods round both men's heads, then the noose.
A short while later the footage, which is silent, shows both men fall.
Almost immediately the rope that was round Barzan's neck flicks upwards, the body dropping below.
The cameraman then shows the pit below and a headless body, bloodied at the neck and what officials say was Barzan's head still covered by a hood.
Al-Bandar's body was still hanging above, said one official who was present at the execution.
Our correspondent says officials say they are not planning to release the footage publicly.
Both men's bodies are reported to have been flown to Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, for burial.
Mixed reaction
Witnesses said Barzan and al-Bandar were shaking with fear as they approached the gallows.
One of those present, public prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi, told the BBC that when the trap door opened, he could only see Barzan's rope dangling.
"I thought the convict Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti had escaped the noose. I shouted that he's escaped the noose, go down and look for him. I went down a few steps ahead of the others to see: I found out that his head had separated from his body."
The hangings took place at 0300 (0000 GMT), apparently in the same building in north Baghdad where Saddam Hussein was put to death on 30 December.
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