Iraqis were responsible for Saddam hanging: US general

BAGHDAD, Jan 3: A senior U S general said today U S forces left all security measures at Saddam Hussein's execution, including searching witnesses for mobile phones, to Iraqi authorities.

An unofficial video of the hanging, apparently filmed on a mobile phone, showed Shi'ite officials taunting Saddam just before he was hanged, sparking outrage among his fellow Sunni Arabs as well as concern among moderate Shi'ites and Kurds.

Asked at a news conference in Baghdad today about criticism of the hanging, U S military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said: ''It was not our decision as to what occurred but we would have done it differently.'' ''We had absolutely nothing to do with the facility where the execution took place,'' Caldwell said, adding that U S forces flew Saddam to the prison where the execution took place at dawn and then withdrew from the building.

The Iraqi government has promised an investigation into how a witness at the hanging filmed it on a mobile phone and released the video to television stations and Web sites.

Caldwell said U S forces were not responsible for searching the witnesses for phones.

REUTERS