NO PICTURES-VIDEO–HANGING: SADDAM’s Half-Brother BARZAN IBRAHIM al-Tikriti (ROPE Decapitated HEAD) & AWAD AHMED al-BANDAR; 2 Former Aides -Executed

The two aides of Saddam Hussein were finally hanged early on Monday morning, 15^th January 2007 after much postponement; 16 days after the Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein was executed. This time, after much criticism after the execution of Sadam Hussein, no hanging pictures or death photos of SADDAM’s Half-Brother BARZAN IBRAHIM al-Tikriti & Awad Ahmed al-Bandar were released on Iraqi’s television.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said "We will not release the video, but we want to show the truth,". The official Video filmed was shown to a selected group of people & reporters (AP, CNN, Reuters etc) as proof that the two were executed.

From CNN; According to one witness, the two appeared to have resigned themselves to their fate.
Advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister, Basam Ridha said “They were every apologetic. They said, “please”, “excuse me”, “I will ask God for forgiveness”, “I will do whatever you ask me” For they were very apologetic They were very even handed this time. They did not really give us or the committee any problem whatsoever”

ABOVE: Left: Awad Ahmed al-Bandar and Right: Half-Brother BARZAN IBRAHIM al-Tikriti. Saddam's last words to Bandar: "I want this Koran to be given to this man, called Bander"

The shock is in the decapitation of his half-brother’s head; head was severed or ripped of by the force of the noose. Apparently the length of the rope and fall was incorrectly calculated or it could be due to the strength of his neck bones.

ABOVE & BELOW: The antics of Saddam's Half-Brother BARZAN IBRAHIM al-Tikriti who came to court in a pajamas and was caught sitting down (BELOW) with his back facing the judge

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BURIAL of The TWO AIDES; By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, A Press Writer, Jan 15 07
By day's end at least 3,000 angry Sunnis, many firing guns in the air, others weeping or cursing the government, assembled in Ouja for the burial of Ibrahim, who also served as Saddam's intelligence chief, and al-Bandar.
"Where are those who cry out in demands for human rights?" Marwan Mohammed, one of the mourners, asked in grief and frustration. "Where are the U.N. and the world's human rights organizations? Barzan had cancer. They treated him only to keep him alive long enough to kill him. We vow to take revenge, even if it takes years."

ABOVE :People pray beside the coffins of Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court who were executed at dawn Monday in Baghdad, in the town of Ouja, 115 kilometers (70 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Jan. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Bassem Daham)
Ibrahim's son-in-law, Azzam Saleh Abdullah, said "we heard the news from the media. We were supposed to be informed a day earlier, but it seems that this government does not know the rules."
He said it reflected the hatred for Sunnis felt by the Shiite-led government. "They still want more Iraqi bloodshed. To hell with this democracy," he said.
The executed men, at their request, were buried in a garden outside a building Saddam had built for religious events in the town of his birth and in which the former leader was interred on New Year's eve in a grave chipped out of an interior floor.

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Iraq Hanging Video Shown to Reporters; By Associated Press

Published January 15, 2007, 8:16 AM CST

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The official video of hanging of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants screened for reporters Monday showed the former leader's half brother lying headless below the gallows, his severed head several yards away. The video shows Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, being hanged side by side.

They wore red prison jumpsuits. As they reached the gallows, black hoods were put on their heads and five masked men surrounded them. After the trap doors opened, al-Bandar could be seen dangling from the rope. Ibrahim's body was lying on the floor, chest down, his severed head resting several yards away. The execution was conducted on the same gallows where Saddam was hanged Dec. 30.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the gallows were built to international standards and in accordance with human rights organizations. "We will not release the video but we want to show the truth," he said. "The Iraqi government acted in a neutral way." Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said Ibrahim looked tense when he was brought into the room and said "I did not do anything. It was all the work of Fadel al-Barrak." Ibrahim was referring to a former head of two intelligence departments."

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Saddam's Half Brother, Top Aide Hanged
Saddam's Half Brother, Revolutionary Court Chief Hanged;
Government Vows Not to Release Video
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq Jan 15, 2007 (AP)— Two top aides to Saddam Hussein were hanged before dawn Monday, and the head of one of them the former Iraqi dictator's half brother Barzan Ibrahim was severed from his body during the execution, a government official said. Two weeks and two days after Saddam was executed in an unruly scene that has drawn worldwide criticism, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh stressed that all laws and rules were respected during Monday's hanging of Ibrahim, the former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court.

"Those present signed documents pledging not to violate the rules or otherwise face legal penalties. All the people present abided by the government's rule and there were no violations," he said, adding the hangings occurred at 3 a.m. "No one shouted slogans or said anything that would taint the execution. None of those charged were insulted."

The official government video of the side-by-side hanging that was shown to a small group of reporters, including one from The Associated Press, showed Ibrahim and al-Bandar wearing red prison jumpsuits. As they reached the gallows, black hoods were put on their heads and five masked men surrounded them.

The video showed the trap doors opening. Al-Bandar could be seen dangling from the rope, while Ibrahim's body in a blur fell to the floor, chest down, his still-hooded severed head resting several yards away.
The execution was conducted on the same gallows where Saddam was hanged Dec. 30 in a building located in the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh (ABOVE) said the gallows were built to international standards and in accordance with human rights organizations.
"We will not release the video, but we want to show the truth," he said. "The Iraqi government acted in a neutral way."
Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said Ibrahim looked tense when he was brought into the room and said "I did not do anything. It was all the work of Fadel al-Barrak." Ibrahim was referring to a former head of two intelligence departments."
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Updated: 3:20 a.m. PT Jan 15, 2007

Anger at Saddam's half-brother's beheading

Shiites welcome hangings, but some join Sunnis' shock at decapitation

TIKRIT, Iraq - Iraqi Shiites, oppressed by Saddam Hussein, welcomed the hanging of two of his aides on Monday though some also joined Sunni Arabs in expressing shock that his half-brother’s head was ripped off by the noose.

Saddam’s two co-defendants were hanged before dawn on Monday, the Iraqi government said, but they admitted that the head of his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti was also torn from his body by the force of the rope during the execution.

In Saddam and Barzan’s home town of Tikrit, a Sunni Arab stronghold north of Baghdad, a black banner was raised on the main mosque named after Saddam saying: “The people of Tikrit mourn the two martyrs ... killed by sectarian hands.”
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Saddam's half brother, court chief hanged; January 15, 2007

BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

ABOVE: Awad Ahmed al-Bandar and BELOW: Half-Brother BARZAN IBRAHIM al-Tikriti. Saddam's last words to Bandar: "I want this Koran to be given to this man, called Bander"

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein's half brother and the former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court were hanged before dawn today, Prosecutor Munqith al- Faroon said, two weeks and two days after the former Iraqi dictator was executed in a chaotic scene that has drawn worldwide criticism.

Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, had been found guilty along with Saddam in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt on the former leader in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad. ''They [the government] called us before dawn and told us to send someone. I sent a judge to witness the execution, and it happened,'' al-Faroon said. The two men were to have been hanged with Saddam on Dec. 30, but Iraqi authorities decided to execute Saddam alone on what national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie called a ''special day.''
Last week, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged the government to delay the executions.

''In my opinion, we should wait,'' Talabani said Wednesday at a news conference with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad. ''We should examine the situation,'' he said without elaborating. Saddam's execution became an unruly scene that brought criticism of the Iraqi government. Video of the execution, recorded on a cell phone camera, showed the former dictator being taunted on the gallows. A
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Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, pictured (BELOW) during his trial in May, and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, two former aides of Saddam Hussein, were executed early Monday, a top Iraqi government official told AFP on condition of anonymity

January 15, 2007 16:11 PM (local time)

Iraq executes two Saddam cohorts, via BERNAMA, Malaysian News agency

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti (ABOVE, pic in May 06, Trial), and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, two former aides of Saddam Hussein, were executed early Monday, a top Iraqi government official told AFP on condition of anonymity BAGHDAD (AFP) - Two former aides of Saddam Hussein were hanged for crimes against humanity despite international pressure to halt the executions after the bungled hanging of the former dictator last month. Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar were executed early Monday, a top Iraqi government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Barzan, Saddam's half-brother and former intelligence chief, and Bandar, the former head of the revolutionary court, had been found guilty of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail in 1980s. They were sentenced to death on November 5 by a special court along with Saddam, whose bungled execution on December 30 has drawn worldwide criticism. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh was not available for comment on the executions of Barzan and Bandar.Another top government official, Basem Ridha, an advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, when contacted for an official confirmation said: "I can't confirm this but the government will make a statement at 10:30 am (0730 GMT)." The White House in its reaction said the Iraqi government was bringing "justice" to those guilty of crimes against the Iraqi people.

"Iraq is a sovereign government exercising its judicial system to bring justice to those convicted for brutal crimes against humanity," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel told AFP. Stanzel said he did not know whether President George W. Bush had been informed of the new hangings in advance as he was in the case of Saddam. The execution of Barzan and Bandar had been postponed several times as international pressure rose on the Iraqi government following Saddam's hanging.

The United Nations and other international bodies and leaders had severely criticised the Iraqi government for the last minute taunting of the former Sunni dictator by an alleged Shiite guard. Maliki however said after Saddam's hanging that the government was determined to carry out the execution of his two aides, calling their execution an "internal matter" of Iraq. Maliki had also threatened to break relations with countries who criticised his government for carrying out the executions. The latest hangings come amid controversy over the unofficial filming of Saddam's execution.

The video made with a portable telephone angered members of Iraq's Sunni minority and triggered criticism from observers who felt he was humiliated minutes before being put to death. The grisly images also recorded one member of the execution party shouting the name of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a bitter opponent of Saddam. The two-and-half minute film spread like wildfire on the Internet and triggered angry outbursts within Iraq's Sunni Arab community and from international leaders. One of those present at the execution could be heard shouting "Moqtada! Moqtada! Moqtada!" at a sneering Saddam, inspiring some observers to compare the execution to a sectarian lynching. Authorities have detained the guard.© AFP 2007

= = = == and Background comments by lawyer Issam Ghazawi thru AP, Jan 10 07

A lawyer for the two men told The Associated Press recently that they were taken from their cells and told they were going to be hanged on the same day Saddam was executed. Issam Ghazawi, a member of Saddam's defense team for the past two years, said he met individually with Ibrahim and al-Bandar recently, and that Ibrahim told him they were escorted from their cells and told they were also going to be executed.

"The Americans took me and al-Bandar from our cells on the same day of Saddam's execution to an office inside the prison at 1 a.m. They asked us to collect our belongings because they intend to execute us at dawn," Ibrahim reportedly said. He said the two men were also told to write their wills. Al-Bandar and Ibrahim were taken back to their prison cells nearly nine hours later, according to Ghazawi. "Their execution should be commuted under such circumstances because of the psychological pain they endured as they waited to hang," he said.

Ghazawi quoted as Al-Bandar as saying he "wished to have been executed with President Saddam." Ibrahim, the lawyer said, "was in the worst condition. He kept crying over the death of his brother and said it was a great loss for the family and the Arab world." After Saddam's execution but before Ibrahim and al-Bandar's, Human Rights Watch released a report calling the speedy trial and subsequent hanging of Saddam proof of the new Iraqi government's disregard for human rights. "The tribunal repeatedly showed its disregard for the fundamental due process rights of all of the defendants," said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program

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See previous post H E RE On
the LATEST Graphic Pictures (Before, After & Dead - Updated) of. SADAM HUSSEIN Hanging

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REACTIONS ------

from IRAQI

ABOVE: Early Monday morning, the Iraqi people getting the news at the news stand and BELOW: The joys in some of the Iraqi people

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ABOVE: The Iraqi parliament hotly debated over the issue with BELOW: the speaker saying that the execution was hasty and make Saddam Hussein a Hero

From RUSSIA

Execution of Iraqi leaders political, not justice - Russian MP

14:13 | 15/ 01/ 2007

MOSCOW, January 15 (RIA Novosti) - The execution of two former Hussein aides demonstrates nothing more than a desire to get rid of unwelcome political leaders by any means, a senior Russian parliamentary official said Monday.

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraq's former intelligence head and Hussein's half-brother, and former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bander were hanged early Monday for the mass killing of Shiite men following an assassination attempt on the Iraqi dictator in 1982.The execution was held a fortnight after Hussein's own execution.

"The situation leaves no doubt that the enforcement of the death sentence for Saddam Hussein's aides was neither an act of reprisal nor an act of justice, but most likely personal revenge or the desire to get rid of any political leaders who could consolidate opposition forces in Iraq," said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the State Duma International Affairs Committee.

He said that those who made the decision did not consider the continually deteriorating situation in the country, which is on the brink of a civil war. He stressed that the executions could negatively affect prospects for stabilization and the resumption of normal political processes in the country."The execution of Iraq's former president and his aides will radicalize sentiments in the opposition camp, and new executions will only fuel the trend," Kosachev said