Execution of a subdued Saddam was quick -witnesses

BAGHDAD, Dec 30 (Reuters) A calm and subdued Saddam Hussein was brought shackled into a hall early Saturday morning in Baghdad before a noose was placed around his neck and a guard pulled a lever that swiftly ended his life and a huge chapter of Iraq's history.

Sami al-Askari, a prominent Shi'ite politician close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, witnessed the event and told Reuters the process of Saddam's execution took 25 minutes but once he was dropped through a trap door his death was very quick.

''One of the guards pulled a lever and he dropped half a meter into a trap door. We heard his neck snap instantly and we even saw a small amount of blood around the rope, they left him hanging for around 10 minutes before a doctor confirmed his death and they untied him and placed him in a white bodybag,'' Askari told Reuters.

Another official witness at the court confirmed Saddam died instantly.

''He seemed very calm. He did not tremble,'' the official said, adding that Saddam, 69, recited, as instructed by an official, the Muslim profession of faith before he died.

''There is no God but God and Mohammed is his prophet,'' the former president intoned.

Askari said Saddam, executed for his role in the killings of 148 men and boys from the Shi'ite town of Dujail after a failed attempt on his life in 1982, was executed at 0610 local time 0840 hrs IST according to his watch at an Iraqi army base in Kadhimiya.

The base was the former headquarters for Saddam's military intelligence where many of his victims were tortured and executed in the same dark gallows. The northern Baghdad district is also home to one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines.

Askari said Saddam, was led in to the small hall by six Iraqi guards, was dressed in a black coat, dark jumper, black trousers, black shoes. He was bound and shackled. He was asked to remove a black hat but was allowed to keep a grey scarf for his execution.

''After he entered the small hall, Saddam had a seat as a judge read him the details of the sentence. But as he saw the camera come in to record, he began shouting the same rubbish we have seen in court. Long live Palestine and other slogans,'' he said.

He said Saddam's hand-cuffs that tied his arms in front of his body when he came in was reversed when he was led to the noose with his arms tied behind his body.

Askari said about 15 people were present, including government ministers, members of parliament, relatives of victims and representatives from the special court and Justice Ministry.

He said no cleric was present as Saddam hadn't requested one and that he had no final requests. Askari said the 15 present remained silent as they watched but congratulated each other after he was confirmed dead.

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