Saddam's brother not executed: official

The half-brother and former head of the intelligence service were not executed.

A top Iraqi official denied reports on Saturday that former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein's half-brother was also executed along with him.

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Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, and Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the half-brother and former head of the intelligence service, were not executed, the official said.

A statement by Mowaffak al-Rubai, the Iraqi security adviser, broadcast on al Arabiya and quoted by CNN, said the two men had not yet been executed "because we want this day to have historic meaning" by hanging only Saddam.

Al-Rubai witnessed the execution, the report said. Al Arabiya television had earlier reported that the two men, who were co-defendants in Saddam's trial, had also been executed.