BAGHDAD, 16 January 2007 — Saddam Hussein’s half brother and the head of his defunct Revolutionary Court trembled with fear as they were hanged yesterday, more than two weeks after the deposed Iraqi dictator’s bungled execution triggered worldwide condemnation.

The head of Saddam’s half brother Barzan Ibrahim Al-Tikriti was ripped from his body during the pre-dawn execution, but an Iraqi government official insisted that “no violations” had occurred.

Former secret police chief Barzan and Awad Hamed Al-Bandar, the ex-head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court, were executed at 3 a.m., Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh told a news conference.

Dabbagh said Barzan had been decapitated during his hanging, while Basem Ridha, an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and a witness to the execution, termed the “incident” an “act of God.”

“There was an incident that happened, that is the separation between the body of Barzan and the head. This happens seldom but it did happen and there was act of God and it was a normal process. It’s happened before,” said Ridha.

Describing the execution Basem said the two men were “trembling with fear when they were taken to the gallows,” in contrast to what many considered Saddam’s dignity in his final moments.

Wearing red prison jumpsuits the two men stood on the gallows as a group of masked men put black hoods on them, said Ridha.

“Both the men went down through the metal trapdoor at the same time but Barzan’s head was severed from his body as he fell, while Bandar’s body dangled from the rope,” Ridha told AFP.

“Barzan’s body fell through the rope while his head flew off a few feet away.” An official video of the execution shows Barzan’s headless body beneath the gallows and his head lying a few feet away, Ridha said.

The hanging video was shown to reporters just once “to show that there was no violation and to show what happened with Barzan,” Ridha said.

The two condemned men had been convicted of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shiite civilians following an assassination attempt against the then president in 1982.

They were sentenced to death on Nov. 5 along with Saddam, whose execution on Dec. 30 was widely condemned for the way it was handled by the Iraqi authorities.

Speaking in Egypt, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that while the execution was an Iraqi process, “we were disappointed there was not greater dignity given to the accused under these circumstances.”

In Amman, Barzan’s Jordanian lawyer Issam Al-Ghazzawi expressed disbelief over the decapitation of his client. “This is impossible. During executions, the weaker bone in the spinal column is broken,” he told AFP.

One of Barzan’s relatives told AFP that the bodies of the two men who were hanged yesterday had arrived in Awja after they were transported by US military helicopters.

Saddam was buried in Awja, on the outskirts of Tikrit, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Baghdad, a day after his hanging.

Iraqi Shiites, who were heavily repressed under Saddam’s Sunni Arab-dominated regime, beat drums and sang in the city of Najaf after hearing of the latest hangings.

They marched in the streets, some holding Iraqi flags, banners and pictures of top Shiite clerics.

Ghazzawi told AFP the hangings had come as a surprise. “No one informed us of the execution date despite our request to have a representative of our committee present when the sentence was carried out,” he said.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel told AFP that the Iraqi government was bringing “justice” to those guilty of crimes against the Iraqi people.

Britain restated its opposition to the death penalty, but a Foreign Office spokesman added that the two condemned men “were found guilty of crimes against humanity and the Iraqi judicial system has taken its course.

In Rome, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi condemned the hangings, as they had that of Saddam.

Ireland regretted Iraq’s decision to go ahead with the killings despite international appeals for clemency, calling on Baghdad to end capital punishment.

“I believe it is in the interests of justice and reconciliation in Iraq that the Iraqi authorities now take the step of ending executions,” Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said in a statement.

Human rights group Amnesty International slammed the hangings saying the men “should have had a fair trial.”

“Reports that Barzan Ibrahim Al-Tikriti had his head severed during the hanging only emphasize the brutality of this already cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment,” Amnesty spokesman Malcolm Smart added.