On the Gallows, Curses for US and "Traitors"

By Marc Santora

The New York Times

Sunday 31 December 2006

Baghdad - Saddam Hussein never bowed his head, until his neck snapped.

His last words were equally defiant.

"Down with the traitors, the Americans, the spies and the Persians."

The final hour of Iraq's former ruler began about 5 a.m., when American troops escorted him from Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad airport, to Camp Justice, another American base at the heart of the city.

There, he was handed over to a newly trained unit of the Iraqi National Police, with whom he would later exchange curses. Iraq took full custody of Mr. Hussein at 5:30 a.m.

Two American helicopters flew 14 witnesses from the Green Zone to the execution site - a former headquarters of the Istikhbarat, the deposed government's much feared military intelligence outfit, now inside the American base.

Mr. Hussein was escorted into the room where the gallows, with its red railing, stood, greeted at the door by three masked executioners known as ashmawi. Several of the witnesses present - including Munkith al-Faroun, the deputy prosecutor for the court; Munir Haddad, the deputy chief judge for the Iraqi High Tribunal; and Sami al- Askari, a member of Parliament - described in detail how the execution unfolded and independently recounted what was said.