Saddam hanged at daybreak
Ruthless dictator Saddam Hussein was executed at daybreak today. On the gallows, Saddam, 69, refused to wear a hood and shouted: "God is great."
Officials said that Saddam put up no resistance on his way to the gallows, merely naming a person who was to receive his copy of the Koran.
The former Iraqi leader appeared calm as he was led to his death at 3am GMT.
Early reports suggested that Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former judge Awad al-Bander were also hanged, but this was later denied by the officials.
In Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, some danced and fired guns in the air to celebrate the former dictator's death.
US president George Bush welcomed news of the execution, while Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, speaking on behalf of the Government, welcomed the fact Saddam had been "held to account".
Mrs Beckett said: "I welcome the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried by an Iraqi court for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed against the Iraqi people. He has now been held to account."
She added that the Government "does not support the use of the death penalty, in Iraq or anywhere else" but added that "we respect the decision" of the Iraqi authorities.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said the statement from Mrs Beckett spoke for the whole government.
By Rob Hess
