Iraqi TV Says Saddam Hussein Executed

BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec 29, 2006 (AP)- Saddam Hussein, the shotgun-waving
dictator who ruled Iraq with a remorseless brutality for a
quarter-century and was driven from power by a U.S.-led war that left
his country in shambles, was taken to the gallows and executed
Saturday, Iraqi state-run television reported.

It was a grim end for the 69-year-old leader who had vexed three U.S.
presidents. Despite his ouster, Washington, its allies and the new
Iraqi leaders remain mired in a fight to quell a stubborn insurgency by
Saddam loyalists and a vicious sectarian conflict.

Also hanged were Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed
al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court.
State-run Iraqiya television news announcer said "criminal Saddam was
hanged to death and the execution started with criminal Saddam then
Barzan then Awad al-Bandar."

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