Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging shortly before 6.am (0300 GMT) on Saturday 30th December 2006.

On 5 November, a special Iraqi tribunal sentenced Saddam Hussein to death for the massacre of 148 Shiites in the town of Dujail in 1982.

A court of appeal upheld the sentence on 26 December, and, under Iraqi law, it must be carried out within 30 days. Some Iraqi officials at the scene said Saturday morning that only Saddam Hussein was executed at the dawn, denying earlier media reports that two Saddam's aides were also executed, reported the state TV station Iraqiya.

Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, National Security Adviser, told Iraqiya that the two co-defendants of Saddam, his half brother and intelligence chief Barzan Hassan al-Tikriti and revolutionary court judge Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, would be executed after the Eid al-Adha holiday, which ends on Thursday.

"We wanted him to be executed on a special day," he said.

Talking on Saddam' execution, al-Rubaie said that the former dictator "totally surrendered" and did not resist. "He did not ask for anything. He was carrying a Quran."

According to the official, a judge read the sentence to Saddam, who was taken in handcuffs to the execution room, where photographs and video footage were taken.

 "Saddam's execution was 100 percent Iraqi and the American side did not interfere," stressed al-Rubaie.

Meanwhile, Judge Moneer Haddad, who witnessed the execution, also said that he had seen only Saddam.

Earlier, the state television quoted Foreign Ministry official Mariam al-Rayis as saying that Saddam and his two co-accused were hanged one after the other.

"It was between 5.30 am (0230 GMT) and 6.30 am (0330 GMT)" and "the whole thing was filmed," said the official, adding "Saddam was hanged first, then Barzan, then Bandar."

U.S.-backed Iraqi TV Al Hurra reported in the early morning that Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging shortly before 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) Saturday.

The execution took place after Saddam, who was born on April 28,1937, and was deposed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was handed over to the Iraqi authorities from a U.S. camp near Baghdad international airport where he had been held.

On Nov. 5, a panel of five Iraqi judges sentenced Saddam, his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar to death by hanging for killing of 148 people in Dujail, some 60 km north of Baghdad.

On Dec. 3, the defense lawyers of Saddam officially appealed to the higher court against the death penalty imposed on Saddam and another two codefendants.

However, the Iraqi appellate court chief announced on Tuesday that the court had upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein.

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Some World News as at 2006 12 30

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamad Gedi has entered Mogadishu under tight security. It is the first time for years that members of Somalia's interim central government have been seen in the capital. At a press conference, he said most Islamist militiamen had been driven off and spoke of a new future now the Union of Islamic Courts militias had been defeated. He said Ethiopian troops would remain in Somalia as long as was necessary.

Mogadishu is largely under the control of government troops supported by Ethiopian forces who have tanks and heavy equipment at their disposal. Relative calm has returned to the capital and, despite reports of sporadic gunfire, residents are once again taking to the streets.

Although the Islamic militias only offered very limited resistance when Mogadishu was taken, one of their leaders said the Islamist fighters would never surrender. Many militiamen have withdrawn to the southern port of Kismayo, which is regarded as their last stronghold. As yet there are no signs that Somali and Ethiopian troops are preparing to attack Kismayo, although two Ethiopian fighter planes were spotted over the city today.

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In Israel, a report by former chief of staff Dan Shomron into the war in Lebanon in July and August severely criticises those commanding the army. Preparations for and co-ordination of the offensive against Lebanon's Hizbollah movement are singled out as far below standard.

The document also says that if Israel had declared a state of war earlier, mobilisation could have been organised quicker. Mr Shomron does not go as far as saying whom he holds responsible for the failures.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the retired general's investigation following a storm of protest in Israel about the war in which 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis were killed. At the time, demonstrators demanded the resignation of Mr Olmert and the military high command. The role of the Israeli government in the Lebanon offensive is being investigated in a separate inquiry.

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One week after floods hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, provincial governors report that help has now reached the most isolated areas. The aid effort has been beset by problems including lack of supplies and transport difficulties. Many villages were cut off from the outside world by flooding and mudslides, brought on by an extended period of torrential rain.

At least 100 people in the provinces of Aceh and Northern Sumatra died as a result of the flooding and 400,000 people were forced to flee their homes. Around half of the evacuees have now returned home.

The heavy rainfall has also caused flooding in Malaysia, where 11 people died as a result. The Malaysian opposition accuses the government of being totally unprepared to cope with natural disasters and has called for an exhaustive investigation.

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Thirty-three businesses running Amsterdam brothels are taking the city council to court over a decision to revoke their licences. The council decided to shut down the businesses on suspicion of involvement in criminal activities such as money laundering.

The decision would close down one-third of the windows behind which the prostitutes in Amsterdam's famous Red Light District ply their trade. The case is due to come before the courts in mid-January. Until then, Amsterdam City Council has agreed that the businesses can remain open.

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Australia's prime minister John Howard has called for the rapid expansion of the country's uranium mining operations and its nuclear energy programme. During the presentation of a report on Australia's energy needs, Mr Howard said it is inevitable that nuclear power will play a major role in the future. He criticised opposition to nuclear power as old-fashioned and called on local authorities to remove barriers to expanding uranium mines.

Australia has the largest natural uranium deposits in the world, but political opposition as kept exploitation at a low level. The country has just one nuclear reactor which is only used for research.

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Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered energy company Lapindo Brantas to pay damages of over 300 million euros for causing mud flows that have been leaking from gas well in eastern Java since May. Thirteen thousand people have been forced to abandon their homes as a result and a railway line is now also under threat.

The mud flows are also thought to have caused an explosion in an underground pipeline in November, in which 13 people died. Indonesia's environment minister, Rachmat Witoelar, says it may take years before the mud flows can be brought to a halt.

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Police in Indonesia have lodged an appeal against the release of the man previously convicted for the murder of human rights activist Munir. Pollycarpus Priyanto, a pilot with Garuda Airlines, was sentenced to 14 years in jail for poisoning Munir on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in 2004 but the sentence was quashed by Indonesia's Supreme Court due to lack of evidence.

Mr Priyanto was released on Monday. The police say they have new evidence which proves that he is responsible for the killing.

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Ecuador's president-elect Rafael Correa has sharply criticised neighbouring Colombia for spraying herbicides on coca leaf crops along its border with Ecuador. Speaking on a visit to villages near the Colombian border, Mr Correa said the herbicides damage legitimate crops and harm the health of Ecuadorean farmers in the border region.

Mr Correa, who will take office on 15 January, says the US-backed anti-drugs campaign Plan Colombia has failed and that coca production has increased instead of diminishing. He attributes this to poverty in southern Colombia, and says that using herbicides does not solve the problem. He wants to expel US military advisers working on anti-drugs operations in Ecuador.

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Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis has denounced the decision by the neighbouring Republic of Macedonia to rename the airport of its capital Skopje after Alexander the Great. Until now, the airport was known as Petrovec. The Greek minister says Macedonia is again falsifying history because Alexander the Great was a "Greek conqueror who established himself in history by spreading Greek culture across the entire known world".

While Greece considers Alexander the Great to be a Greek hero, Macedonians consider him a famous Macedonian. Greece has blocked its neighbour's attempts to become internationally recognised as Macedonia, which is also the name of Greece's northernmost province. Many international institutions refer to the country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Ancient Macedonia is spread over a number of Balkan states and its heritage is claimed by different countries. Bulgarians say the Macedonian language is Bulgarian written with Serbian letters.

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US President George W. Bush has declared January the 2nd a national day of mourning for former president Gerald Ford, who died on Tuesday at the age of 93. All government buildings will be closed on that day. President Bush called on Americans to join together to honour the memory of President Ford, who held the office from 1974 to 1976.

On Saturday, Gerald Ford's body will be laid in state at the Capitol building in Washington. He will be buried in Michigan, next to the museum that bears his name.

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This year, Dutch courts handed down a record number of ten life sentences, up one on last year which broke the previous record. Interestingly, two life sentences in 2006 were given by courts of appeal quashing more lenient sentences.

One of the most notorious cases to come before the courts in 2006 was the appeal of the nurse, Lucia de Berk. She had been found guilty of the murder of seven patients and the attempted murders of a further three.

Life was also handed down to 50-year-old Rudolf Kasebier, who was known as the Twente Executioner. He murdered a tramp in Enschede, was guilty of three attempted murders and a series of animal mutilations.