BAGHDAD, Iraq - Some Arab media, including Saudi-owned Al Arabiya and the U.S.-financed Al Hurra, reported about an hour before daylight on Saturday (about 10 p.m. EST Friday) that Saddam had been executed. State-run Iraqiya television cited reports of SaddamÂ’s hanging, but like the other television stations did not provide sources.There was no confirmation from the Iraqi government.
A US judge on Friday refused to stop SaddamÂ’s execution, rejecting a last-minute court challenge. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said US courts do not have jurisdiction to interfere in another countryÂ’s judicial process. The ruling can be appealed, but it was issued within an hour of the time Iraqi officials said they expected the execution to be carried out.
Saddam and others were convicted of murder in the killings of 148 Shia Muslims from an Iraqi town where assassins tried to kill Saddam in 1982. Also to be hanged were SaddamÂ’s half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed Al Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, the adviser said.