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Witness: Executed man's [Saddam's half brother] 'head just snapped off'
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| Parent(s) |
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| Contributor | Brandonius Maximus |
| Last Edited | Brandonius Maximus Jan 15, 2007 08:33pm |
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| Category | Event |
| Media | TV News - CNN |
| News Date | Tuesday, January 16, 2007 02:30:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A journalist who saw videotape of the Monday hangings of Saddam Hussein's half-brother and the dictator's former chief judge has described how one of the men was decapitated.
New York Times reporter John F. Burns told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Monday evening that Barzan Hassan al-Tikriti's head "just snapped off," because he was apparently given too much rope and fell too far -- about eight feet -- for a man of his medium build and weight.
The hangman's calculations -- a grim science governing the weight of the condemned and how much rope is necessary to kill quickly -- were apparently wrong, Burns said
He said: "Two deeply frightened men in orange jumpsuits, Guantanamo-style, standing on the trapdoor, black hoods over their heads as they intoned the prayer of death.
"As... they dropped the eight feet allowed by the coiled rope his head just snapped off, just like that, in an instant."
Burns was among a small group of reporters, which did not include CNN, who were invited to watch a videotape of the two side-by-side hangings.
The hangings happened at about 3 a.m. Monday (7 p.m. Sunday ET), said Basam Ridha, spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office.
After the men drop, Burns said the videotape shows Hassan "lying face down -- [a] headless pool of blood accumulating around his neck."
Hassan's head was still in the black hood that covered his face before he fell through the trapdoor, according to Burns. |
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