Iraqi government investigates Saddam death footage
Saddam Hussein's execution has caused controversy throughout the world
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Tuesday, 02, Jan 2007 08:20
The Iraqi government has promised a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Saddam Hussein as video footage of the hanging has emerged on the internet.
Illicitly-filmed footage shows the former dictator being taunted by Shi'ite officials on his way to the gallows.
Insults are shown to have been exchanged with Hussein and one person attending the hanging is heard to have told him to "go to hell". At least two chant "Moqtada" repeatedly, referring to militant Shi'ite Moqtada al-Sadr.
The footage has further angered hundreds of Sunni Arabs who have taken to the streets in protest at his death in areas across Iraq.
Meanwhile the prosecutor who was legally required to be present at the execution said he threatened to walk out because of the chanting.
"I threatened to leave," Munkith al-Faroon told the Reuters news agency. "They knew that if I left, the execution could not go ahead."
Joining a wave of international outrage at the nature of Saddam's last moments, Britain's deputy prime minister John Prescott said that the manner of the former dictator's death was "deplorable".
"Whatever your views about capital punishment, frankly to get the kind of recorded messages coming out is totally unacceptable and whoever is involved and responsible for it should be ashamed of themselves," he told the Today programme.
The publication of the footage coincides with the release of government figures which revealed that over 12,000 Iraqi civilians died during 2006 in the wake of divisions following the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in 2003.