US envoy says Saddam aides had "Iraqi execution"

BAGHDAD, Jan 15 (Reuters) The US ambassador to Iraq said the execution of two of Saddam Hussein's senior aides today was an entirely Iraqi affair with little US involvement.

Asked about the hangings, in which Saddam's half-brother was beheaded by the noose, Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters: ''It was an Iraqi process. It was an Iraqi decision, an Iraqi execution.'' US forces had held the two during their trial for crimes against humanity and, like Saddam two weeks ago, U.S. troops transported them to the gallows, government sources said.

REUTERS LL RK1918