The Hindu : International : Hanged deputy buried in Saddam's home village

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Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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International

Hanged deputy buried in Saddam's home village

11 killed in violence across Baghdad

Taha Yassin Ramadan

BAGHDAD: Iraq sent another of former President Saddam Hussein's associates to the gallows on Tuesday as the nation marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led war still battling a raging militancy and sectarian conflict.

Former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan was executed before dawn for crimes against humanity over the killing of 148 Shias in the 1980s, less than three months after Saddam was hanged.

``Ramadan was hanged at 3:05 a.m. [local time] today,'' said Bassem Ridha, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Later, Ramadan's body was taken to Saddam's home village of Awja where it was buried. Sheikh Ali Nidr from Saddam's tribe received the body.

Saddam has been laid to rest inside a hall which used to be a gathering place for condolence meetings during the former regime in Awja, just outside the northern city of Tikrit.

``The body of Ramadan was washed and then buried in the garden of the hall next to the graves of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar,'' Mr. Nidr said.

Ramadan, aged almost 70, was the fourth regime official to be executed for his role in the killings of the Shias from the village of Dujail after an attempt on Saddam's life there in 1982.

``The execution was smooth with no violation,'' Mr. Ridha said, after an international outcry over the manner of the previous hangings of Saddam and his former aides.

Ramadan ``was very calm and composed. He asked his family and friends to pray for him and said that he was not afraid of death,'' defence lawyer Badie Aref said before his execution.

At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 45 others injured on Tuesday in a series of attacks across the capital, sources said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a car bomb in the Karada district near the Green Zone, killing three Iraqis and wounding 17 others, an Iraqi police source said. — Agencies

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