SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — Saddam's personal secretary and chief bodyguard Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti was hanged for crimes of genocide relating to the suppression of Iraqi Shia Muslims during the 1980s.
He was executed today (Thursday). "The Ministry of Justice implemented the execution sentence against the criminal [Mahmud]...for genocide," Saadi added.
When he was captured in 2003 by US-led coalition forces, he was number 4 on a list of most-wanted Iraqi officials.
Saddam Hussein himself was executed in December 2006.
He was arrested on June 16, 2003 and eventually sentenced to death on October 26, 2010 on charges of orchestrating a crackdown against rival political parties in the country in the 1980s and 1990s. The suppressive campaign included assassinations and unlawful detentions.
Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz and former Interior Minister Saadun Shaker are also awaiting execution after they were handed death sentences alongside Mr Mahmud in October 2010.
The last execution of a former regime official took place in January 2010 when Saddam's notorious cousin, known as ``Chemical Ali'' for his role in poison gas attacks, was put to death by hanging. — www.shafaqna.com
