Breaking News: Saddam's half-brother, ex-judge executed

Special Report: Execution of Saddam

Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq 

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 people were killed and more than 45 others wounded when a car bomb went off Saturday at a busy market in Kufa town near the holy Shiite city of Najaf, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    "A car bomb parking at a popular market in Kufa town detonated at about 10:00 a.m. (0700 GMT), killing 30 people and wounding 45 others," the source said on condition of anonymity.

    The attack came just few hours after the Iraqi government executed the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein by hanging early Saturday.

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   Saddam executed by hanging

Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein reacts in court during the Anfal genocide trial in Baghdad December 21, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging shortly before 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Saturday, U.S.-backed Iraqi TV Al Hurra reported.

    "The execution of Saddam Hussein is complete," Iraq state run Iraqiya television said.

    But so far, there has been no confirmation from the Iraqi government. Full story>>

    Iraqi officials: Saddam executed alone

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Some Iraqi officials at the scene said Saturday morning that only Saddam Hussein was executed at dawn, denying earlier media reports that two Saddam's aides were also executed, reported the state TV station Iraqiya.

    Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, National Security Adviser, told Iraqiya that the two co-defendants of Saddam, his half brother and intelligence chief Barzan Hassan al-Tikriti and revolutionary court judge Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, would be executed after the Eid al-Adha holiday, which ends on Thursday. Full story>>