Saddam Co-Defendants to Be Executed Thursday (AP)

Last Edited: Tuesday, 02 Jan 2007, 5:08 PM MST
Created: Tuesday, 02 Jan 2007, 5:08 PM MST

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An Iraqi government official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that preparations were under way to hang two of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants on Thursday.

Al-Arabiya satellite television and Al-Furat TV, run by Iraq's major Shiite Muslim political organization, both also reported that Saddam's half brother Barzan Ibrahim, a former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, would be put to death Thursday.

The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said the exact place and time of the hangings had not been set.

The two co-defendants were originally scheduled to hang last Saturday along with Saddam.

The former Iraqi leader and the two co-defendants were convicted and sentenced to hang on Nov. 5 and the verdict was upheld by the appellate court on Dec. 26.
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