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Hanging of two of Saddam Hussein’s cronies widens Sunni-Shia divide
The two men are Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein’s half-brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, both convicted for their role in the Dujail massacre. Shiites are blamed for the executions.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) – “The Sunni-Shia divide will grow wider,” said Iraqis AsiaNews spoke to around the country, after two top officials from Saddam Hussein’s regime were hanged today in Baghdad. The same sources had expressed similar views after the “disgraceful” execution of Iraq’s former president on December 30, 2006.
Few hours after midnight Saddam’s half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, a former chief of Iraq’s Mukhabarat (intelligence service) and Awad Hamad al-Bandar, a former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were executed by hanging. Both men were co-defendants with Saddam Hussein in the trial for the massacre of 148 Shiites in Dujail (1982). All three were sentenced to death for that crime. All three were scheduled to die on the same day, but al-Tikriti’s and al-Bandar’s execution was postponed.
A spokesperson for the Iraqi government said the sentence was carried out in orderly fashion, except for one detail. During the fall, al-Tikriti’s head broke from the rest of the body.
Such occurrences are rare and, according to the government official, it was “an act of God”.
The remains of the two men will be handed over to the families within two days.
“For Sunnis,” sources said, “what is happening in Iraq is inspired by Iran and the result of their marginalisation. Shiites have taken power but the current government has failed to achieve the hoped-for reconciliation or ensure peace.”