Iraqi authorities hanged Saddam Hussein's former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan for crimes against humanity, an official said.
BAGHDAD: Iraq hanged Saddam Hussein's former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan before dawn for crimes against humanity on Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of the US-led war that toppled the regime.
He is the fourth ex-regime figure, including Saddam himself, to be executed for the killing of 148 Shiites from the town of Dujail after the ousted Iraqi strongman escaped an assassination bid there in 1982.
"Ramadan was hanged at 0005 GMT today," said Bassem Ridha, senior advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, saying it took place at an undisclosed Baghdad location.
"The execution was smooth with no violation," Ridha said, after an international outcry over the manner of the previous hangings of Saddam and his former cohorts.
Lawyer Badie Aref said that the US military had allowed Ramadan, who was aged almost 70, to call his family.
"He was very calm and composed. He asked his family and friends to pray for him and said that he was not afraid of death," Aref said.
It was the Popular Army created by Ramadan which was accused of rounding up suspects after the attempt on Saddam's life. In all 148 were arrested but never seen again.
Saddam himself was hanged for the Dujail killings on December 30 and was followed to the gallows by two henchmen, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, on January 15.
Even ordinary Iraqis who despised Saddam were surprised by the sudden hanging of the man who ruled Iraq with an iron fist for a quarter century -- although thousands took to the streets to noisily celebrate his downfall.
Footage of Saddam being taunted then executed was circulated on the Internet, to the delight of many Shiites who suffered under his regime, but was widely seen internationally as a blunder that undermined the legitimacy of the process.
The hanging of Barzan -- Saddam's half brother and head of the feared secret police -- was gruesome, with his head ripping from the body as he plunged through the metal trap door.
This time around, said Ridha: "Before the execution, we weighed Ramadan and accordingly decided the length of the rope after consulting an expert. There was no violation of any kind this time."
Ridha said Ramadan's clothes and other belongings were handed over to his lawyer and his body would be delivered to relatives later on Tuesday.
An appeals court had on Thursday confirmed the death sentence first imposed against Ramadan on February 12 by the Iraqi High Tribunal which is trying former regime officials.
He was originally given a life sentence in November, but the prosecution filed a petition demanding that he too be executed.
On hearing the February verdict, Ramadan swore his innocence, saying: "May God take revenge against everyone who rendered me injustice."
US-based Human Rights Watch had urged Iraq not to carry out the death penalty, saying there was insufficient evidence linking Ramadan to the Dujail murders.
"Ramadan was convicted in an unfair trial, and increasing his punishment from life imprisonment to death reeks of vengeance," Richard Dicker of the organisation's International Justice Programme said last month.
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