The Iraqi government spokesman confirmed Monday the execution of two of Saddam Hussein's top aides.

"The two convicts have been hanged to death according to the law," Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told a news conference.

Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were hanged at 3:00 a.m., the Iraqi state-run channel reported earlier.

Dabbagh confirmed that the executions were conducted by the executive authority with the attendance of a prosecutor, a judge and a physician.

"In a rare incident the head of the accused Barzan Ibrahim al- Hassan was separated from his body during the execution," Dabbagh told reporters.

The execution of the two codefendants was postponed several times because of international pressures on the Iraqi government following Saddam's hanging.

The two had been found guilty of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail in 1980s.

Source: Xinhua