Mariam Karouny and Alastair Macdonald, journalists for Reuters, in their December 30, 2006 article "Saddam Hanged But No Let-Up in Iraq Violence" wrote from Baghdad:

"Saddam Hussein was hanged at dawn on Saturday for crimes against humanity after Iraq's prime minister rushed through an execution few believed would help stem the sectarian violence tearing the country apart.

The former president, toppled by the U.S. invasion four years ago, was shown on state television going calmly to his death on the scaffold. He was to be buried within hours near his home city of Tikrit.

'It was very quick. He died right away,' an official witness told Reuters, adding that the body was left to hang for 10 minutes and he was pronounced dead at 6:10 a.m. (0310 GMT).

The bearded Saddam, still robust at 69, refused a hood and declined to have a cleric present, but said a brief prayer on the gallows once used by his own secret police.

Grainy video later showed his body in a white shroud, the neck twisted and blood on a cheek. It was taken to Awja, his native village near Tikrit, and his family said later he would be buried in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi."

Dec. 30, 2006 Mariam Karouny and Alastair Macdonald