2 former Saddam aides hanged in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- 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.\nTwo 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.\n"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."\nThe 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.\nThe silent 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.\nThe government played the video for the reporters apparently to allay any suspicions that Ibrahim's body was mutilated after death.\n"We will not release the video, but we want to show the truth," al-Dabbagh said. "The Iraqi government acted in a neutral way."\nThe execution was conducted on the same gallows where Saddam was hanged Dec. 30, 2006, in a building located in the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah.\nProsecutor 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."\nThe government came under widespread condemnation because of Saddam's chaotic execution in which video of the hanging, recorded on a cell phone camera, showed him being taunted on the gallows.\nIbrahim and al-Bandar 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.\nThe announcement of the executions drew outrage from some in the Sunni community while majority Shiites who were heavily persecuted under Saddam's regime expressed joy.\nIbrahim'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."\nHe said it reflected the hatred felt by the Shiite-led government. "They still want more Iraqi bloodshed. To hell with this democracy."\nKhalaf al-Olayan, a leader of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, demanded to see any video of the hangings.\n"It is impossible for a person to be decapitated during a hanging," he told Al-Jazeera television. "This shows that they (the government) have mutilated the body and this is a violation of the law"