Saddam Hussein's Two Co-Defendants Hanged in Iraq (Update4)

By Robin Stringer and Daniel Williams

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Saddam Hussein's half-brother and a former head of Iraq's disbanded Revolutionary Court were executed by hanging early today for their roles in the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in the village of Dujail.

The hanging decapitated Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraq's intelligence chief at the time of the killings. Awad Hamed al- Bandar, who issued death sentences to Dujail residents as a Revolutionary Court judge, was executed alongside al-Tikriti for crimes against humanity. The event was conducted ``without violations,'' Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Hussein's co-defendants ``had many people killed and caused extreme destruction,'' and instigated ``extreme crimes against humanity,'' al-Dabbagh said at a Baghdad news conference aired on Iraqi state television.

The executions come 16 days after Hussein's hanging. Footage of that event filmed on a mobile phone camera and posted on the internet caused outrage amongst Iraq's Sunni minority and international criticism.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said America was ``disappointed there was not greater dignity'' afforded the co- defendants at a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in the Egyptian city of Luxor aired on Arabic- language television channels.

The execution took place in the presence of a prosecutor, a doctor and a judge, al-Dabbagh said. All witnesses and executors signed a document outlining rules of conduct for the event. ``Everyone followed the government's rules that there was no taunting or shouting,'' al-Dabbagh said.

Sunni Leadership

Hussein's mostly Sunni leadership repressed Iraq's Shiite population. The Shiite majority now dominate Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government that authorized the executions.

Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, told the Sky News television channel he regretted the executions. ``The president already made an appeal and I had strong reservations,'' al-Hashemi said. ``It is unfortunate'' the appeals had no effect, he said. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, opposes the death penalty.

The United Nations raised questions about the fairness and impartiality of the trial and appealed to Talabani to stop the executions. Talabani urged a delay in the hangings at a news conference on Jan. 10. He left Iraq yesterday to visit Syria.

Hussein's execution presented an opportunity for national reconciliation and the increased political participation of Sunnis, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in an interview on Jan 10.

Foolish Rhetoric

The suggestion the hangings could unite Iraq's warring communities is ``incredibly foolish rhetoric,'' said Sonya Sceats, Associate Fellow in International Law at Chatham House, a London-based foreign policy institute. ``These executions have incensed Sunni communities who see this as a reprisal not properly ordered by law.''

The executions will ``intensify scrutiny about the way in which the current regime is attempting to deal with past atrocities,'' Sceats said.

The Amnesty International human rights organization said Hussein and his aides should be held to account for their ``horrific'' crimes ``should have been through a fair trial process and without recourse to the death penalty,'' Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program, said in an e-mailed statement. The decapitation of al- Tikriti ``emphasizes the brutality of this already cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment,'' Smart said.

No Healing Process

``This is not going to help the healing process,'' said Dave Hartwell, Middle East Editor for Jane's Country Risk, an international security publications group. ``There are far greater problems facing the Iraqi people. The execution has become a sideshow,'' Hartwell said in a telephone interview.

Al-Tikriti and Al-Bandar were sentenced to death by the majority decision of a panel of five judges on Nov. 5 after a chaotic 14-month trial that saw boycotts by defense lawyers and defendants ejected from the court on several occasions. Al- Tikriti was once thrown out of the courtroom for calling Chief Judge Abdel Rahman a ``dictator.'' He said documents referring to action against Dujail residents bearing his signature were fakes.

Al-Bandar acknowledged he sentenced 148 Shiite Muslims to death, and argued the action was taken as a legal response to an attempt on Hussein's life in Dujail.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Damascus at dwilliams41@bloomberg.net . Robin Stringer in London at rstringer@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: January 15, 2007 11:28 EST

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