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At the end, calm, defiant

Saddam Hussein's final moments were surprisingly quiet. The ex-dictator didn't struggle as a noose went around his neck - but he did curse America and "traitors."

By Wire services
Published December 31, 2006

BAGHDAD - The scene was at once macabre and riveting.

One of the most notorious dictators of the late 20th century, his hands bound, was led to the gallows by masked men in leather coats.

Tyrants are rarely executed. Perhaps because of that, the footage from Saddam Hussein's hanging, carried on Iraqi television and broadcast to the world, had a surreal quality.

This was not a Hollywood version of an execution: The fallen dictator did not plead for his life, nor did he violently resist the executioners who slipped the rope around his neck.

The most striking thing about the images, perhaps, was how calmly and quietly the tyrant faced death.

Hussein had reportedly asked that, as Iraq's commander in chief, he be sent before a firing squad. Instead, he was condemned to die on the gallows - like a garden variety Iraqi criminal or thug.

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 another American base at the heart of the city, Camp Justice.

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 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 deposed government's much feared military intelligence outfit, the Istikhbarat, now inside the American base.

When the time came, Hussein did not wear his familiar military uniform with its jaunty beret but a black coat over a white shirt, black trousers and black shoes.

His jet black hair was carefully combed, his salt-and-pepper beard neatly clipped. He carried a copy of the Koran.

Munir Haddad, an appeals court judge who witnessed the hanging, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that Hussein was not sedated.

"Not at all, Saddam was normal and in full control," Haddad said. "He was aware of his fate and he knew he was about to face death. He said 'This is my end, this is the end of my life, but I started my life as a fighter and as a political militant so death does not frighten me.' "

The 69-year-old Hussein struggled briefly when U.S. military guards handed him over to his Iraqi executioners, said Sami al-Askari, a political adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But it was his last effort at physical resistance.

Hussein was taken to a former military intelligence headquarters in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah, in northern Baghdad. During his regime, he had numerous dissidents executed in the facility.

His executioners wore black ski masks, but Hussein could still see their deep brown skin and hear their dialects, distinct to the Shiite southern part of the country, where he had so brutally repressed two separate uprisings.

The small room had a foul odor. It was cold and had bad lighting. With the witnesses and another 11 people - including guards and the video crew - it was cramped.

Hussein's eyes darted about, trying to take in just who was going to put an end to him.

The executioners took his hat and his scarf.

Hussein, whose hands were bound in front of him, was taken to the judge's room next door. He sat down and the verdict, finding him guilty of crimes against humanity, was read aloud.

"Long live the nation!" Hussein shouted. "Long live the people! Long live the Palestinians!"

He continued shouting until the verdict was read in full, and then he composed himself again.

After his captors brought Hussein into the execution chamber, his hands were untied, then tied in the back, Haddad told the BBC.

"They put his feet in shackles and he was taken upstairs to the gallows," Haddad said. "He was reciting, as it was his custom, 'God is great' and also some political slogans like 'Down with the Americans' and 'Down with the invaders.'

"He said 'We are going to heaven and our enemies will rot in hell' and he also called for forgiveness and love among Iraqis but also stressed that the Iraqis should fight the Americans and the Persians."

By the time the one-minute broadcast video was aired without sound, Hussein appeared quiet. His eyes seemed lost in a 1,000-yard stare.

Four or five burly men guided him firmly toward a red metal railing marking the trap door. A thick rope hung like a sinister vine from the low ceiling. An unseen photographer's flash created fleeting stark shadows.

With a blank expression, Hussein refused a black hood - but he did so with a shake of his head that seemed more distracted than defiant.

Then he appeared to agree to let one of his executioners tie a black scarf around his neck - presumably to prevent injuries that might disfigure his corpse.

In the video, Hussein appeared silent as the noose was slipped over his head. But Askari, who was present, said at about that time Hussein shouted: "God is great. The nation will be victorious, and Palestine is Arab."

The national security adviser in Iraq, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, asked Hussein if he had any remorse or fear.

"No," he said. "I am a militant and I have no fear for myself. I have spent my life in jihad and fighting aggression. Anyone who takes this route should not be afraid."

Haddad told the BBC that Hussein began reciting verses from the Koran.

"Some of the guards started to taunt him by shouting Islamic words," he said.

At 6:10 a.m., the trapdoor beneath swung open. He seemed to fall a good distance, but he died swiftly. After just a minute, he was not moving. His eyes still were open but he was dead. Despite the scarf, the rope cut a gash into his neck.

His body stayed hanging for another nine minutes as those in attendance broke out in prayer.

Iraqi TV did not broadcast the moment of Hussein's execution but officials said his death was recorded on video.

Asked if Hussein suffered, Haddad told the BBC: "He was killed instantly. I witnessed the impact of the rope around his neck and it was a horrible sight."

The television footage included a shaky image of the aftermath: a shot of what appeared to be Hussein's corpse, laid out on a hospital gurney, his head wrenched grotesquely to the right. His neck appeared to be bruised.

Hussein's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were originally scheduled to be hanged along with their former leader.

Iraqi officials, though, decided to reserve the occasion for Hussein alone.

[Last modified December 31, 2006, 00:23:32]