Iraqi Officials Confirm Saddam's Confirm, Iraqi, Officials, Saddam

李冰

萨达姆已被执行绞刑

Senior Iraqi officials confirmed early Saturday that former president Saddam Hussein and two former allies were hanged at the dawn.

Foreign Ministry official Mariam al-Rayis, who attended the execution, told the state television that Saddam and his two co-accused(1) -- his half brother and intelligence chief Barzan Hassan al-Tikriti and revolutionary court judge Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, were hanged one after the other.

"It was between 5.30 am (0230 GMT) and 6.30 am (0330 GMT)" and "the whole thing was filmed," said the official.

"Saddam was hanged first, then Barzan, then Bandar," Rayis added.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abbawi also told the BBC on Saturday that Saddam Hussein has been executed.

"I believe so, yes. He has been executed. It has been officially announced that he has been executed," Abbawi said in a phone interview with BBC News 24.

Iraqi official television station Al-Iraqiya announced that "criminal Saddam was hanged to death."

U.S. President George W. Bush hailed(2) the execution of the toppled(3) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as "an important milestone" on the road to building an Iraqi democracy(4).

"It is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain and defend itself, and be an ally(5) in the war on terror," Bush said in a statement issued just about one hour after Saddam was hanged in Baghdad, Iraq.

The execution took place after Saddam, who was born on April 28, 1937, and was deposed(6) by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was handed over to the Iraqi authorities from a U.S. camp near Baghdad international airport where he had been held.

On Nov. 5, a panel of five Iraqi judges sentenced Saddam and his two co-accused to death by hanging for killing of 148 people in Dujail, some 60 km north of Baghdad.

On Dec. 3, the defense lawyers of Saddam officially appealed(7) to the higher court against the death penalty(8) imposed on Saddam and another two codefendants.

However, the Iraqi appellate(9) court chief announced on Tuesday that the court had upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein.

周六早晨，伊拉克高级官员证实前总统萨达姆·侯赛因和另外两名支持者于黎明时分被执行绞刑。
外交部官员Mariam al-Rayis参加了绞刑执行，对国家电视台说萨达姆和另外两名同案被告—他的继弟、智囊团核心人物Barzan Hassan al-Tikriti以及革命法庭法官Awad Ahmed al-Bandar—相继被执行绞刑。
官员说：“绞刑于凌晨5：30（格林威治标准时间0230）到6：30(格林威治标准时间0330)执行完毕。整个过程已被录下来了。”
Rayis补充说：“首先被行刑的是萨达姆，然后是Barzan，最后是Bandar。”
同时，伊拉克外交部副部长Labeed Abbawi也于周六向BBC证实萨达姆·侯赛因已被执行绞刑。
abbawi在对BBC新闻24采访中说到：“我想是的。他已被处死。官方已经正式宣布了。”
伊拉克官方电视台Al-Iraqiya宣布“罪犯萨达姆已被执行死刑死亡。”
美国总统George W. Bush欣喜地称倒台伊拉克前总统萨达姆的绞刑为建设民主伊拉克道路上的“重要里程碑”。
   萨达姆在巴格达执行绞刑一个小时后，Bush发表声明说：“这座重要的里程碑预示着伊拉克将成长为能够自治、自强和自卫的民主国家，并成为反恐的同盟中的一员。”
萨达姆出生于1937年4月28日，2003年美国入侵后在巴格达国际机场附近被捕，自此被免职并从机场附近的美国营地被转移到伊拉克当权者手中。
11月5日，五名伊拉克法官判处萨达姆和另两名同犯绞刑，罪状是杀害巴格达南部60英里Dujail148人。
12月3日，萨达姆辩护律师正式向更高法院提起诉讼，反对原处罚。
但是，周二，伊拉克受诉法庭宣布支持对萨达姆执行绞刑。