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Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein executed

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Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein executed

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been executed, a witness said.

"Saddam's body is in front me," said an official in the prime minister's office when CNN telephoned. "It's over."

In the background, Shiite chanting could be heard. When asked about the chanting, the official said "These are employees of the prime minister's office and government chanting in celebration."

The witness reported that celebrations broke out after Hussein was dead, and that there was "dancing around the body."

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not attend the execution, according to an adviser to the prime minister who was interviewed on state television.

The execution was videotaped and photographed, state television reported, and those images will be distributed to the media.

Al-Arabiya television network reported that Barzan Hassan, Hussein's half-brother, and Awad Bandar, former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were hanged after Hussein. All three were convicted of killings in the Iraqi town of Dujail nearly 25 years ago.

Earlier, Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld the former dictator's death sentence, and an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki each confirmed the paperwork needed for Hussein's execution had been prepared late Friday.

"All the procedures have been completed," Haddad said.

At the same time, a U.S. district judge refused a request to stay the execution.

Attorney Nicholas Gilman said in an application for a restraining order, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, that a stay would allow Hussein "to be informed of his rights and take whatever action he can and may wish to pursue."

Haddad had called Gilman's filing "rubbish," and said, "It will not delay carrying out the sentence," which he called "final."

Haddad also said there is no need for a presidential decree for the implementation of the execution.

He said once the handover is completed, "the sentence will be carried out swiftly, without any delay. God willing."

Haddad, who will attend the execution, said he received a call from al-Maliki's office asking him and a prosecutor to be ready for it.

Haddad wouldn't disclose the location of the execution and said it won't be broadcast live on TV because of human rights issues.

Meanwhile, Giovanni di Stefano, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, told CNN the U.S. military officially informed him that the former Iraqi dictator has been transferred to Iraqi authorities for his execution and that a "credible source" told him Hussein will be executed "very shortly -- in the next couple of hours."

And di Stefano indicated that the move by lawyers in the U.S. court could mean Hussein is in U.S. military custody now.

"The United States may very well have had a cause to effectively take him back in the event" a judge "grants the temporary restraining order, in which case his life would then be spared at least for a period of time or until such further order of the court," he said.

Giving Hussein to the Iraqis despite a temporary restraining order would be contempt of court, di Stefano said.

Conflicting reports These latest developments come during a day of conflicting reports over whether Hussein was in U.S. or Iraqi custody. Throughout the day, U.S. officials have not wavered in their stance that he remains in U.S. custody.

There has been speculation that Hussein would be executed before Eid Al-Adha -- a holiday period that means Feast of the Sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims around the world at the climax of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

There is a belief that the execution could be soon because the law does not permit executions to be carried out during religious holidays.

Eid begins Saturday for Sunnis and Sunday for Shiites and lasts for four days. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.

Baha al-Araji, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the Muqtada al-Sadr bloc, said the government is seeking the "opinion of clerics, both Sunni and Shiite, whether they can carry out the death sentence against Saddam on Saturday since it's the start of Eid."

"The clerics would issue a fatwa saying that due to exceptional circumstances the death sentence can be carried out," said al-Araji, whose political movement represents Shiite Muslims.

Sheikh Jalaleddin al-Saghir, who is both a Shiite cleric and a parliament member from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said, "There is absolutely no problem from a religious standpoint to carry out the death sentence at the start of Eid."

Baghdad now is in its regular overnight curfew, and Iraqi and U.S. troops are bracing for protests and violence if an execution occurs.

Ministerial aides said government officials have been in "emergency meeting," and al-Araji confirmed that officials were still debating whether to execute the former Iraqi leader on Saturday.

Gallows in Green Zone Al-Araji said the scaffolding where Hussein is to be hanged is in Baghdad's Green Zone, the center of power for coalition officials.

He said he saw a judge, a cleric and a physician at the site. According to Iraqi law, these people have to be present at the execution.

"These people were told to remain there on standby waiting for orders for the government," al-Araji said.

Al-Araji told CNN that he and other parliament members and government officials have been cleared to attend the hanging.

"I would have wished for this to happen in Sadr City, where he has killed the most people," he said.

If the hanging does occur on Saturday, it will "most likely take place between 6 a.m. and noon," he said. Those hours translate to 10 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Saturday in the Eastern United States.

Speaking from Doha, Qatar, Najib al-Nuaimi, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, said Hussein's "fate definitely [is] in the hands of God."

Meeting with half-brothers Another defense lawyer, Badie Aref, told CNN that Hussein met with two of his half-brothers in his cell on Thursday and passed on messages and instructions to his family.

"President Saddam was just bracing for the worst, so he wanted to see his brothers and pass on some messages and instructions to his family," Aref said. The half brothers who visited were Sabawi and Wathban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, he said.

Another of Hussein's half-brothers, Barzan al-Tikriti, has been sentenced to death and is being held in Iraq under the same charges as Hussein.

Aref said the U.S. soldiers guarding Hussein on Tuesday took away a radio he kept in his cell so he could not hear news reports about his death sentence, which was confirmed that day.

"They did not want him to hear the news from the appeals court upholding the sentence," he said. "They gave him back the radio on Wednesday."

Aref said Saddam found out about the appeals court verdict "a few hours after it was announced."

Crimes against humanity Hussein was convicted on November 5 of crimes against humanity in connection with the killings of 148 people in the rown of Dujail after an attempt on his life.

The dictator was found guilty of murder, torture and forced deportation.

The Dujail episode falls within 12 of the worst cases out of 500 documented "baskets of crimes" during the Hussein regime.

The U.S. State Department says torture and extrajudicial killings followed the Dujail killings and that 550 men, women and children were arrested without warrants.

CNN's Aneesh Raman, Arwa Damon, Ryan Chilcote, Sam Dagher, Jomana Karadsheh and Ed Henry contributed to this report.
 
Still cant believe everything happened so easily......
 
This is terrible news. I am deeply saddened.

Witnesses have reported of Shia slogans shouted at the time of Saddams death and people dancing around his dead body.

Why such haste. Why on the day when Sunni's are celebrating Eid.
 
This is terrible news. I am deeply saddened.

Witnesses have reported of Shia slogans shouted at the time of Saddams death and people dancing around his dead body.

Why such haste. Why on the day when Sunni's are celebrating Eid.
It was wrong. The world shall be polarized further.
 
Easy come easy go. Majority of Saddam’s victims never saw their day in court, nor a decent burial.
 
I would've accepted the same result after a fair trial.

They had to change the judge, kill his lawyers off.
 
I would've accepted the same result after a fair trial.

They had to change the judge, kill his lawyers off.

That's the point. His victims weren't afforded a trial. He got lot more than thousands did.

I am a Sunni and vigorously against the Iraqi invasion, still I don’t have even an iota of sympathy for Saddam.
 
Not a word from Pakistani government or the Muslim world. Can we be in a more miserable situation than this.
 
That's the point. His victims weren't afforded a trial. He got lot more than thousands did.

I am a Sunni and vigorously against the Iraqi invasion, still I don’t have even an iota of sympathy for Saddam.
It's not about Shia/Sunni. Give Ahmedinejad the same trial and you'd hear the same objections from me.

It's about letting America off easy when it exercises its power to kill anyone whenever it wants to.
 
Pakistan says Saddam hanging 'sad event'


ISLAMABAD (updated on: December 30, 2006, 15:02 PST): Pakistan, a key US ally, on Saturday described the execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as a 'sad event' and expressed hope that it would not further exacerbate the security situation in Iraq.

'The execution of former president Saddam Hussein, which can only be described as a sad event, is another poignant reminder of the violence that continues to grip Iraq,' the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"We hope that this event would not further exacerbate the security situation," the statement said.

It said Pakistan desired peace, stability and reconciliation in Iraq.

"It remains our earnest hope to see peace, stability and reconciliation so that the people of Iraq regain control of their affairs in a secure environment."
 
Russia regrets Saddam Hussein execution: report


MOSCOW (updated on: December 30, 2006, 12:30 PST): Russia's foreign ministry expressed regret on Saturday over the execution of toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying that international calls for clemency had been ignored, Interfax news agency reported.
 
Iran hails Saddam hanging as 'victory for Iraqis'


TEHRAN (updated on: December 30, 2006, 12:12 PST): Iran on Saturday welcomed the execution of its former arch-foe Saddam Hussein, saying his hanging was a victory for all Iraqis.

"With regards to Saddam's execution, the Iraqi people are the victorious ones, as they were victorious when Saddam fell," Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Reza Asefi said, according to the IRNA agency.

Saddam was universally reviled in Iran for attacking the Islamic republic in 1980, sparking an eight-year war that cost around one million lives on both sides.

Asefi recalled Saddam was executed "for only one of his crimes", the massacre of 148 Iraqis from the Shia village of Dujail in 1982, saying his case was shut quickly in a bid to cover up US support for his regime in the 1980s.

"His cased was closed very quickly," said Asefi.

"If they had gone on to the case of the Iran-Iraq and Kuwait wars, certainly his alliance with America would have surfaced. So the Americans made an effort so that his case was closed with Dujail."

The official also warned that the execution could lead to an upsurge of unrest in Iraq in the short term.

"After his arrest the insecurity intensified and it is foreseeable that with his execution, for a short period, the insecurity will increase," said Asefi.

Ties have warmed considerably between Iran and Iraq since the fall of Saddam, with Tehran becoming one of the closest allies of the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad.
 
China avoids comment on Saddam's execution


BEIJING (updated on: December 30, 2006, 14:26 PST): China, which opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, avoided direct comment on Saturday on the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, state media reported.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said merely that Iraq's affairs should be decided by the Iraqi people when asked about Saddam's hanging early on Saturday morning, Xinhua news agency said.

China deflects foreign criticism of its poor human rights record and other issues as interference in Chinese affairs and thus typically avoids directly commenting on sensitive events in other countries.

Saddam was deposed by the US-led invasion in 2003 and convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court on November 5 and sentenced to death.

"China hopes Iraq can realise stability and development at an early date," Xinhua said, quoting the spokesman.
 
This is terrible news. I am deeply saddened.

Witnesses have reported of Shia slogans shouted at the time of Saddams death and people dancing around his dead body.

Why such haste. Why on the day when Sunni's are celebrating Eid.

IT might have some thing to do with him killing 100s of 1000s of iraqies without giving it a secong thought.having people executed for not wining a football match.and why is this a terrible news paa jee arent you the one on the same forum saying NEW born held as a hostage in a hospital for money in saudi arabia is ok.but a killer getting what he deserves is a bad news.

and why in the hell would pakistan care what happened to him he was agaisnt pakistan.

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Actually he was just found guilty on killing 148 shias. Which was like back in 1982, with the blessings of America.

So American administration of the time is involved in those killings and should share the punishment.

He dies an innocent man on the charges against the Kurds and all the rest.
 
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