Saddam's half brother executed

Two weeks after Saddam Hussein was executed, the former Iraqi dictator's half brother and the former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court were hanged. The execution took place in the early hours of Monday.

Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were involved in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in 1982.

The executions reportedly occurred in the same Saddam-era military intelligence headquarters building in north Baghdad where the former leader was hanged. The building is located in the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah.

The two men were to have been hanged along with Saddam on December 30, but Iraqi authorities decided to execute Saddam alone on what National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie called a "special day."

Last week, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged the government to delay the executions.

"We should examine the situation," he said without elaborating.