Saddam Hussein executed in Iraq
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging at an unspecified location in Baghdad, for crimes against humanity.
Iraqi TV said the execution took place just before 0600 local time (0300GMT).
The news was confirmed to the BBC by the Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister, Labeed Abawi.
Two co-defendants, Saddam Hussein’s half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and former Iraqi chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar, were also executed.
Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on 5 November after a year-long trial over the 1982 killings of 148 Shias in the town of Dujail.
“Criminal Saddam was hanged to death,” state-run Iraqiya television announced, as patriotic music and images of national monuments were broadcast.
A scrolling headline read: “Saddam’s execution marks the end of a dark period of Iraq’s history.”
The TV station said Saddam Hussein’s half-brother and the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court were also hanged.
Other Arab TV stations aired live footage of the sunrise over Baghdad’s Firdous Square, where US Marines pulled down a statue of Saddam Hussein, after he was deposed in April 2003.
‘Turning a page’
US troops and Iraqi security forces are on high alert for any violent backlash. The US State Department has urged all its embassies to increase security.
The BBC’s Peter Greste in Baghdad says Shias have generally welcomed Saddam Hussein’s passing and hailed the execution as justice for the suffering endured under his leadership.
But Saddam’s own Sunni tribesman were angered by his treatment in the past and they may well protest once more, our correspondent adds.
Source: BBC News
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