| Page 4 of 4 < |
In Hussein's Last Minutes, Jeers and a Cry for Calm
The noose is readied around the neck of Saddam Hussein. "I am not afraid. I have chosen this path," a witness quoted the Iraqi dictator as saying.
(Iraqi Television Via Associated Press)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Then the hangmen slowly helped him up the stairs.
'He Is Finished'
The chief hangman offered Hussein a black hood and asked him to place it over his head, but he refused. The man explained that his death would be more painful. Hussein again refused, witness said. So the hangman folded the hood and wrapped it around Hussein's neck, like a neck warmer.
"He was shivering, and his face was pale," said one witness, who asked not to be identified because he feared for his safety. "I think up to the moment when they put the rope around his neck, he was not believing what was happening."
Faroun saw a different Hussein: "He was holding tight. He was not scared."
Hussein stepped onto the platform, helped by the hangmen.
As the Shiites chanted and proclaimed their loyalties to Sadr, who heads the Mahdi Army militia, which the United States is pressuring the Maliki government to dismantle, an Iraqi official turned to Haddad. "Now how are we going to disband the militia when we have such things?" the official asked.
After the outbursts, as Hussein recited his Islamic prayer for the second time, the chief hangman asked for silence. Then the floor of the gallows was opened.
"He died in a tenth of a second," Faroun said. "He did not move a leg or foot."
Hussein's body hung for about five minutes, witnesses said.
"Some of the people were shouting, 'May God pray on Muhammad and the descendants of Muhammad,' " Haddad said. "After that, the body was brought down, they placed a white cover and then laid him on the ground."
A doctor examined him and then turned to the 14 witnesses. "He is finished," he said, according to those who were there.
Hussein's body was loaded onto one of the helicopters and flown to the Green Zone, where an ambulance transported his body to an unknown destination.
Hussein's death was announced on Iraqi television at 6:10 a.m. One Iraqi witness immediately phoned Rayis and said: "The punishment has been carried out."
"I cried at the moment out of joy," she recalled.
