Saddam Hussein Executed

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging for crimes against humanity including the killings of 148 Shias. The execution took place in northern Baghdad, Iraq, at 6AM local time. An Iraqi deputy foreign minister confirmed the news to international media. A representative of the prime minister and a Sunni Muslim cleric were witnesses to the execution.

A small group of Iraqis also witnessed the execution. A judge read the sentence to Saddam Hussein who clutched a copy of the Koran to his chest. When the noose was placed around his neck, the former president handed the book away and asked it be given to a friend. He refused the hangman put a hood over his head and stated he wanted to die without the shroud.

According to Iraqi National Security Advisor Mouwafak al-Rubaie, Saddam Hussein was quiet and "very, very broken." He also said that the execution took only a few minutes.

News of Saddam Hussein's execution was broadcast on Iraqi television. The local report stated that Saddam Hussein was hanged as well as his two co-defendants, his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar. The Iraqi National Security Advisor Mouwafak al-Rubaie later clarified the report to say that only Saddam Hussein was hanged and that the two co-defendants would be executed sometime after next week.

The news broadcast of Saddam Hussein's execution was accompanied by patriotic music and images of national monuments. One station aired live footage of sunrise over Baghdad's Firdous Square where a statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down in April 2003. Video footage of the execution is expected to be released as final proof of Saddam Hussein's demise although it is expected to stop short of showing the actual death.

In Sadr City, part of Baghdad, people celebrated the former ruler's death. Car horns blasted and people were dancing in the streets. Many Shias welcomed the execution of Saddam Hussein as justice for the suffering he inflicted as a leader.

Protest from Saddam Hussein's Sunni tribesmen is expected. US troops and Iraqi security forces are on high alert and security is elevated at US embassies around the world.

The execution has received mixed reactions from international leaders. Any disagreement on the sentencing is diffused by the belief that the former president was held to account for crimes against his own people. Many nations called on Iraq to look forward but also acknowledge that the execution will not end the deadly violence in the Iraq. .