Saddam aides Barzan, Bander hanged - govt

BAGHDAD, Jan 15 (Reuters) Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bander were hanged today for crimes against humanity in the killing of 148 Shi'ites from Dujail in the 1980s, the government said.

Saddam himself was hanged on December 30 in a dawn execution rushed through four days after the failure of their appeal and on the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

''The two convicts have been hanged to death,'' Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told a news conference.

REUTERS SY BD1321