BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has
been executed, a witness said.
"Saddam's body is in front me," said an official in the prime
minister's office when CNN telephoned. "It's over."
In the background, Shiite chanting could be heard. When asked about
the chanting, the official said "These are employees of the prime
minister's office and government chanting in celebration."
The witness reported that celebrations broke out after Hussein was
dead, and that there was "dancing around the body."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not attend the execution,
according to an adviser to the prime minister who was interviewed
on state television.
The execution was videotaped and photographed, state television
reported, and those images will be distributed to the media.
Al-Arabiya television network reported that Barzan Hassan,
Hussein's half-brother, and Awad Bandar, former chief justice of
the Revolutionary Court, were hanged after Hussein. All three were
convicted of killings in the Iraqi town of Dujail nearly 25 years
ago.
Earlier, Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld the
former dictator's death sentence, and an adviser to Iraqi Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki each confirmed the paperwork needed for
Hussein's execution had been prepared late Friday.
At the same time, a U.S. district judge refused a request to stay
the execution.
Attorney Nicholas Gilman said in an application for a restraining
order, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, that a
stay would allow Hussein "to be informed of his rights and take
whatever action he can and may wish to pursue."
Haddad had called Gilman's filing "rubbish," and said, "It will not
delay carrying out the sentence," which he called "final."
Haddad wouldn't disclose the location of the execution and said it
wouldn't be broadcast live on TV because of human rights
issues.
Throughout the day, there were conflicting reports about who had
custody of Hussein. Giovanni di Stefano, one of Hussein's defense
attorneys, told CNN the U.S. military officially informed him that
the former Iraqi dictator had been transferred to Iraqi but that
the move in U.S. court could have meant that Hussein was back in
U.S. custody.
There had been speculation that Hussein would be executed before
Eid Al-Adha -- a holiday period that means Feast of the Sacrifice,
celebrated by Muslims around the world at the climax of the hajj
pilgrimage to Mecca. The law does not permit executions to be
carried out during religious holidays.
Eid began Saturday for Sunnis and Sunday for Shiites and lasts for
four days. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.
Anyway its all around de internet & news!
jUST happened
