From left: Awad al-Bandar and Barzan al-Tikriti

IRAQ. SADDAM HALF BROTHER AND EX-OFFICIAL HANGED

January 15, 2007: Saddam Hussein's half brother and the former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court were hanged today. A government spokesman said the head of one of the accused, Barzan Ibrahim, had been severed during the hanging. But he stressed that all laws and rules were respected during the proceedings.
Both men were found guilty along with Saddam of the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in the town of Dujail. A Sunni parliament leader countered "it is impossible for a person to be decapitated during a hanging. This shows that they have mutilated the body and this is a violation of the law." (Sources: AP, 15/01/2007)