Iraq arrests witness accused of filming Saddam's execution
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 3, 2007 | 11:39 AM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/03/saddam-arrest.html
The Iraqi government has arrested the person believed to have recorded Saddam Hussein's hanging on a cellphone.
An adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would not identify the person, but said it was an official who supervised the execution last Saturday.
"In the past few hours, the government has arrested the person who made the video of Saddam's execution," the adviser said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The cellphone video, leaked to the internet and broadcast on Al-Jazeera satellite television, showed Saddam was taunted and insulted by witnesses moments before his death.
One witness told the deposed Iraqi leader to "go to hell."
The video, though grainy, also showed a graphic depiction of Saddam's death ― he swings by the neck, his eyes open and his head twisted to the right.
The recording contrasts with the official execution video released by the Iraqi government that was muted and did not contain images of the moments when Saddam died.
One Iraqi prosecutor who witnessed the hanging said he saw two government officials openly making recordings of the hanging, using the lights already set up for the official execution video.
"They used their mobile phone cameras," prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "I do not know their names, but I would remember their faces."
14 officials watched hanging, witness says
Al-Faroon said there were 14 Iraqi officials, including himself and another prosecutor, at the hanging. Three hangmen were also present.
The New York Times published an interview with al-Faroon on Wednesday, quoting him as identifying one of the cellphone videographers as Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a national security adviser and close aide to the prime minister.
On Wednesday, al-Faroon denied he accused al-Rubaie.
"I am not accusing Mowaffak al-Rubaie, and I did not see him taking pictures," al-Faroon told the Associated Press.
Reporters were unable to reach al-Rubaie for comment.
Al-Faroon, who helped convict Saddam of genocide, said he thought witnesses were supposed to turn in their cellphones before arriving at the execution chamber. He said the bodyguards of some officials smuggled phones in for their clients.
All officials were flown by helicopter to the site of the hanging ― a former military intelligence facility where Saddam's own security men executed people for years.
Saddam's co-defendants to hang Thursday
Also on Wednesday, an Iraqi government official told the Associated Press that preparations were being made to hang two of Saddam's co-defendants ― former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, who is Saddam's half-brother, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court.
The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the hangings would occur Thursday, but the exact place and time had not yet been set.
The two men were originally scheduled to hang on Dec. 30 along with Saddam.
The witnesses' conduct at the execution, captured on the leaked cellphone video, has sparked outrage among Iraq's Sunni Muslim population.
The Sunni minority had dominated the government under Saddam, a Sunni, but lost their position of privilege after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Protests have been held across Iraq.
With files from the Associated Press
---------------------------------------
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g5nKmP5wY-8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed>
相关录象
----------------------------------------
萨达姆执行死刑过程中，伊拉克卫兵在绞刑架前对萨达姆进行语言攻击并偷拍现场录像，这些录像传出后，引发了伊拉克逊尼派穆斯林的愤怒，伊政府2日对此展开了调查。
萨达姆被绞死并且在死刑现场遭到无礼对待的消息传出后，伊拉克北部城市摩苏尔一座主要关押逊尼派犯人的监狱发生暴动。
马利基总理的顾问萨米-阿斯卡里曾现场见证萨达姆的死刑过程，他在接受路透社采访时称：“有几个卫兵喊了一些不恰当的口号，政府已对此展开了调查。”
从伊拉克政府公布的现场录像中可以看到，刽子手曾经和萨达姆进行交谈，萨达姆情绪稳定。但是在互联网上流传的“非官方”录像显示，卫兵们冲萨达姆高呼“去死”，并且与他互相进行语言上的攻击。
阿斯卡里称，伊拉克政府将调查卫兵是怎么把拍照手机偷带进入死刑室的。他说：“这本来是不应该发生的。在进入死刑室前，我们曾要求禁止将拍照手机携带入内。”
与此同时，不愿透露姓名的伊拉克政府官员称，美国驻伊拉克大使哈里扎德曾建议马利基总理两周后再处死萨达姆，以避开穆斯林节日宰牲节。这名官员说：“美国人希望将执行死刑的时间推迟15天，因为他们不急于立即处死萨达姆。但是，看到总理执意坚持，美国人改变了主意。”美国驻伊拉克使馆发言人拒绝对此消息发表评论。
伊拉克政府目前正在对看守人员在行刑时嘲讽萨达姆一事展开调查。伊拉克的一名高级检察官2日表示，为阻止什叶派行刑人员嘲讽萨达姆，他曾经威胁要停止执行当天的绞刑。
伊拉克检察官穆吉斯-阿尔-法龙称，在对萨达姆执行绞刑当天，由于行刑人员嘲笑和讽刺萨达姆可能会激化伊拉克国内的宗教冲突，所以阿尔-法龙当时对此加以了阻止，但最初并未取得任何效果。
阿尔-法龙表示，当自己的阻止未能奏效时，他立即大声威胁说要退出监督执行绞刑。而根据伊拉克的法律规定，如果检察官未能出现在行刑现场，绞刑就不能合法的进行。据阿尔-法龙称，当时有两位伊拉克政府官员携带了手机进入现场，不知道他们是怎样将手机带入行刑现场的，因为美军看守人员当时收走了所有人的手机。
http://backchina.com/news/2007-01-03/112253.html
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 3, 2007 | 11:39 AM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/03/saddam-arrest.html
The Iraqi government has arrested the person believed to have recorded Saddam Hussein's hanging on a cellphone.
An adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would not identify the person, but said it was an official who supervised the execution last Saturday.
"In the past few hours, the government has arrested the person who made the video of Saddam's execution," the adviser said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The cellphone video, leaked to the internet and broadcast on Al-Jazeera satellite television, showed Saddam was taunted and insulted by witnesses moments before his death.
One witness told the deposed Iraqi leader to "go to hell."
The video, though grainy, also showed a graphic depiction of Saddam's death ― he swings by the neck, his eyes open and his head twisted to the right.
The recording contrasts with the official execution video released by the Iraqi government that was muted and did not contain images of the moments when Saddam died.
One Iraqi prosecutor who witnessed the hanging said he saw two government officials openly making recordings of the hanging, using the lights already set up for the official execution video.
"They used their mobile phone cameras," prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "I do not know their names, but I would remember their faces."
14 officials watched hanging, witness says
Al-Faroon said there were 14 Iraqi officials, including himself and another prosecutor, at the hanging. Three hangmen were also present.
The New York Times published an interview with al-Faroon on Wednesday, quoting him as identifying one of the cellphone videographers as Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a national security adviser and close aide to the prime minister.
On Wednesday, al-Faroon denied he accused al-Rubaie.
"I am not accusing Mowaffak al-Rubaie, and I did not see him taking pictures," al-Faroon told the Associated Press.
Reporters were unable to reach al-Rubaie for comment.
Al-Faroon, who helped convict Saddam of genocide, said he thought witnesses were supposed to turn in their cellphones before arriving at the execution chamber. He said the bodyguards of some officials smuggled phones in for their clients.
All officials were flown by helicopter to the site of the hanging ― a former military intelligence facility where Saddam's own security men executed people for years.
Saddam's co-defendants to hang Thursday
Also on Wednesday, an Iraqi government official told the Associated Press that preparations were being made to hang two of Saddam's co-defendants ― former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, who is Saddam's half-brother, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court.
The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the hangings would occur Thursday, but the exact place and time had not yet been set.
The two men were originally scheduled to hang on Dec. 30 along with Saddam.
The witnesses' conduct at the execution, captured on the leaked cellphone video, has sparked outrage among Iraq's Sunni Muslim population.
The Sunni minority had dominated the government under Saddam, a Sunni, but lost their position of privilege after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Protests have been held across Iraq.
With files from the Associated Press
---------------------------------------
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g5nKmP5wY-8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed>
相关录象
----------------------------------------
萨达姆执行死刑过程中，伊拉克卫兵在绞刑架前对萨达姆进行语言攻击并偷拍现场录像，这些录像传出后，引发了伊拉克逊尼派穆斯林的愤怒，伊政府2日对此展开了调查。
萨达姆被绞死并且在死刑现场遭到无礼对待的消息传出后，伊拉克北部城市摩苏尔一座主要关押逊尼派犯人的监狱发生暴动。
马利基总理的顾问萨米-阿斯卡里曾现场见证萨达姆的死刑过程，他在接受路透社采访时称：“有几个卫兵喊了一些不恰当的口号，政府已对此展开了调查。”
从伊拉克政府公布的现场录像中可以看到，刽子手曾经和萨达姆进行交谈，萨达姆情绪稳定。但是在互联网上流传的“非官方”录像显示，卫兵们冲萨达姆高呼“去死”，并且与他互相进行语言上的攻击。
阿斯卡里称，伊拉克政府将调查卫兵是怎么把拍照手机偷带进入死刑室的。他说：“这本来是不应该发生的。在进入死刑室前，我们曾要求禁止将拍照手机携带入内。”
与此同时，不愿透露姓名的伊拉克政府官员称，美国驻伊拉克大使哈里扎德曾建议马利基总理两周后再处死萨达姆，以避开穆斯林节日宰牲节。这名官员说：“美国人希望将执行死刑的时间推迟15天，因为他们不急于立即处死萨达姆。但是，看到总理执意坚持，美国人改变了主意。”美国驻伊拉克使馆发言人拒绝对此消息发表评论。
伊拉克政府目前正在对看守人员在行刑时嘲讽萨达姆一事展开调查。伊拉克的一名高级检察官2日表示，为阻止什叶派行刑人员嘲讽萨达姆，他曾经威胁要停止执行当天的绞刑。
伊拉克检察官穆吉斯-阿尔-法龙称，在对萨达姆执行绞刑当天，由于行刑人员嘲笑和讽刺萨达姆可能会激化伊拉克国内的宗教冲突，所以阿尔-法龙当时对此加以了阻止，但最初并未取得任何效果。
阿尔-法龙表示，当自己的阻止未能奏效时，他立即大声威胁说要退出监督执行绞刑。而根据伊拉克的法律规定，如果检察官未能出现在行刑现场，绞刑就不能合法的进行。据阿尔-法龙称，当时有两位伊拉克政府官员携带了手机进入现场，不知道他们是怎样将手机带入行刑现场的，因为美军看守人员当时收走了所有人的手机。
http://backchina.com/news/2007-01-03/112253.html
