'Execution of Saddam was quick'
2006-12-30 22:21
Baghdad - A subdued Saddam Hussein was led
shackled into a hall early on Saturday in Baghdad, a noose was
placed around his neck and a guard pulled a lever that swiftly
ended his life and a chapter of Iraq's history.
Sami al-Askari, a prominent Shi'ite politician close to
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, witnessed the event and said the process of Saddam's execution lasted about 25
minutes but once he was dropped through a trap door his death
was very quick.
"One of the guards pulled a lever and he dropped half a
metre into a trap door. We heard his neck snap instantly and we
even saw a small amount of blood around the rope," Askari added.
"They left him hanging for around 10 minutes before a doctor confirmed his death and they untied him and placed him in a white bodybag," he added.
State-funded television channel Iraqiya showed the final
moments of Saddam's life but stopped short of broadcasting the actual hanging or his corpse.
The footage showed a group of guards dressed in civilian
clothes and wearing ski masks helping Saddam up a small metal
staircase where a cloth was put around his neck before stepping
onto the trap door. A red metal barrier, like a witness box,
surrounded the trap door in the low-ceilinged, grey concrete,
cell-like room.
Tightened the noose
The hangman, wearing a beige leather jacket, placed the
thick rope over Saddam's head and tightened the noose on the
left side of his neck. The hangman exchanged a few words with
Saddam, who nodded in return.
Saddam wore a black coat over a black V-neck jumper and a
white shirt and had black trousers and black shoes. Askari said
he was told to take off a woolly black hat before his execution.
Another official witness confirmed Saddam died instantly.
"He seemed very calm. He did not tremble," said the
official, adding Saddam, 69, recited the Muslim profession of
faith before he died: "There is no God but God and Mohammed is his prophet."
Askari said Saddam, executed for his role in the killing of
148 men and boys from the Shi'ite town of Dujail after a failed attempt on his life in 1982, was executed at 06:10 according to his watch at an Iraqi army base in Kadhimiya.
The base was the former headquarters of Saddam's military intelligence where many of his victims were tortured and executed in the same dark gallows. The northern Baghdad district is also home to one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines.
Arms tied
"After he entered the small hall, Saddam had a seat as a judge read him the details of the sentence. But as he saw the
camera come in to record, he began shouting the same rubbish we
have seen in court. Long live Palestine and other slogans," he said.
He said Saddam's hand-cuffs that tied his arms in front of his body when he came in were reversed when he was led to the
noose with his arms tied behind his body.
Askari said about 15 people were present, including
government ministers, members of parliament, relatives of
victims and representatives from the special court and Justice
Ministry. US military and embassy officials declined to
comment on whether any US representative was present.
Askari said no cleric was present as Saddam had not
requested one and that he had no final requests. Askari said
those present remained silent during the execution, but
congratulated each other after Saddam was confirmed dead.
An Iraqi television channel later showed footage of Saddam's
body in a white shroud. The low-quality footage on Biladi, a
Shi'ite-run channel, showed Saddam lying with his neck twisted
at an awkward angle, with what appeared to be blood or a bruise
on his left cheek.
The short clip appeared to have been filmed on a mobile
phone or small camera by a visitor invited to view the corpse.
Jawad al-Zubaidi, a victim who testified at Saddam's trial
and who was allowed to view the corpse during a private
reception at Maliki's office, said: "When I saw the body in the
coffin, I cried. I remembered my three brothers and my father
who he had killed. I approached the body and told him: 'This is
the well-deserved punishment of every tyrant',".