Supporters carry the Iraqi flag-draped coffins of Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti (left) and former judge Awad Hamed al-Bander during a funeral in Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq, 175km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, yesterday. Saddam's two aides were buried within hours of their hanging yesterday in a garden outside the hall which has become a shrine to the former president since he was interred there two weeks ago. - Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters):

Iraq hanged two aides to Saddam Hussein before dawn yesterday but government efforts to avoid a repeat of uproar over the ousted leader's rowdy execution were thwarted when his half-brother's head was severed by the noose.

Many of the Government's Shi'ite Muslim supporters rejoiced at the death of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's once feared intelligence chief who was accused of sending people to death in a meat grinder. But voices in Iraq's Sunni Arab minority saw the decapitation as a deliberate sectarian act of revenge.

Government spokesmen said the severing of Barzan's head was a rare hangman's blunder. Critics said it may have been partly a result of Barzan's illness with cancer.

Pale and trembling

Officials showed journalists film of Barzan and former judge Awad Hamed al-Bander standing side by side in orange jumpsuits on the scaffold, appearing pale and trembling with fear as the hangmen placed black hoods over their heads.

As the two trap doors swung open, the force of the rope jerked Barzan's head off. The head fell to the floor next to his body in a pool of blood as Barzan's corpse swung above it.

The officials said they had decided not to distribute any part of the film to the public - unlike footage shown of Saddam standing on the gallows.

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters the hanging of the two men was "an Iraqi decision, an Iraqi execution". But some countries in the European Union, to which Iraq is looking for economic aid, expressed disgust. The United Nations had appealed for mercy.

The government film was silent but officials said there was no disturbance in the execution chamber like the taunting that occurred at Saddam's hanging. The chamber was apparently the same one where Saddam was hanged on December 30.

Supporters of Shi'ite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr shouted his name at Saddam's execution, angering Sunnis when illicit film of the scenes emerged. Although Sunnis are an Iraqi minority, they are the majority in the Arab world and view with concern the influence of Shi'ite, non-Arab Iran in Iraq.