A new video has been posted on the internet, apparently showing the body of Saddam Hussein lying on a hospital trolley with a wound in his neck after being hanged.
The 27-second clip, the third illicit film to emerge since the former Iraqi president was executed for crimes against humanity on December 30, shows a sheet being removed to reveal a smear of blood on Saddam’s left cheek and a vivid red wound, 5cm in diameter, surrounded by beard on his throat.
The footage, seen on Tuesday, shows his neck severely twisted. The throat wound may have been caused by the rope.
The grainy film appears to have been taken in a room lit by daylight. A man is heard addressing another familiarly as Abu Ali and urging him to hurry — possibly because the people filming were aware of breaching regulations in doing so.
The Iraqi government had released an official video showing a dignified Saddam refusing a hood as the noose was placed around his neck. It showed the executioner persuading Saddam to have the folded hood wrapped around his neck. It did not show the drop through the trap or Saddam dead.
Shortly afterward, on December 30, a television station run by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite Dawa party showed a grainy clip of Saddam lying in a shroud. It was similar to the newest film but not clearly showing the neck wound.
By the time Saddam was buried the following day, another piece of film, shot on a cellphone, emerged on the internet and Arab television stations showing the three minutes around the hanging. It showed Saddam and officials trading sectarian jibes and has prompted a government inquiry after it sparked widespread anger among Saddam’s fellow minority Sunni Arabs. — Reuters