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| Iraq |
| Ramadan Hanged, Keeps Head |
| 2007-03-20 |
| BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein's former deputy was hanged before dawn Tuesday, the fourth man to be executed in the killings of 148 Shiites following a 1982 assassination attempt against the former leader in the town of Dujail. Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was Saddam's vice president when the regime was ousted, went to the gallows on the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Bassam al-Hassani, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said the execution went smoothly, although Ramadan appeared frightened and recited the two shahadahs — a declaration of faith repeated by Muslims — "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet." And Satan is his doorman. Al-Hassani said precautions were taken to prevent a repeat of what happened to Saddam's half brother and co-defendant Barzan Ibrahim, who was inadvertently decapitated on the gallows during his January execution. Ramadan, who was nearly 70, was weighed before the hanging and the rope was chosen accordingly, al-Hassani said. Practice makes perfect. The execution took place at 3:05 a.m. at a prison at an Iraqi army and police base, which had been the headquarters of Saddam's military intelligence, in a predominantly Shiite district in northern Baghdad. Ramadan had been in U.S. custody but was handed over to the Iraqis about an hour before the hanging, according to al-Hassani, who witnessed the hanging. Yahya Ibrahim, a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, said Ramadan's body will be received by members of Saddam's tribe later Tuesday and will be buried near co-defendants Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar in Ouja, on the outskirts of Tikrit. The graves, along with those of Saddam's sons Odai and Qusai and a grandson Mustafa, are in the courtyard of the building in which the former leader is buried. Ibrahim also said three days of mourning would be held for Ramadan. Now the ___th holiest site in Islam. His sister, Khadija Ramadan, a professor at San'a University, was reached by The Associated Press in Yemen and said their 85-year-old mother was in deep mourning for her son. Yemen seems host to quite a few vipers and their kin. Ramadan was convicted in November of murder, forced deportation and torture and sentenced to life in prison, but an appeals court ruled that was too lenient and he was sentenced to death. Besides the four executed, three other defendants were sentenced to 15 years in jail in the case, while one was acquitted. Ramadan, who became vice president in March 1991 and was a Revolutionary Command Council member — Iraq's highest political body under Saddam — maintained his innocence, saying his duties were limited to economic affairs, not security issues. Hey, it worked for Speer. Ramadan was No. 20 on the U.S. most-wanted list issued shortly after the invasion began. He was captured on Aug. 20, 2003. During the 1980s, he was deputy prime minister and was for a time considered the second-most powerful man in Iraq after Saddam. And now he's promoted to 'just as powerful.' He was said to have presided over many purges carried out by Saddam to eliminate rivals and strengthen his political control. At the height of the standoff leading up to the war, Ramadan also suggested in 2002 that Saddam and President Bush fight a duel to settle their differences and spare their people the ravages of war. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #3 Glenmore, Sea, very funny. I'm gonna miss the ol' bugger - wait, no I won't. Barzan - now HE was a hoot. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-03-20 23:22 |
| #2 "For you, Taha, this lovely parting gift! Don't go away mad, just go away." |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-03-20 14:17 |
| #1 i thought they weren' going too telkl where saddam was buried so it would not become another pilgrimmage site or another muslim holy place what happened too that when you are telling the whole world that the rest are buried right next too him. |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-03-20 10:33 |