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The World from Berlin

Botched Hanging 'Brutal, Amateurish, Undignified'

The accidental decapitation of Saddam's half-brother Barzan during his hanging on Monday drew international criticism and threatened to worsen sectarian divisions in Iraq. German commentators call the hanging "gruesome."

The world doesn't often witness a series of executions like the one of Saddam Hussein at the end of December and of his henchmen Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the once feared intelligence chief, and former judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar on Monday.

First in a series of embarrassing mistakes was the unauthorized filming of the dictator's hanging by mobile phone. Shaky footage found its way onto the Internet and showed Saddam being verbally abused during the hanging. Then followed the inadvertent decaptitation of his half-brother Barzan on Monday.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized the bothched hanging, saying: "We were disappointed there was not greater dignity given to the accused under these circumstances. I hope that those who are responsible for the way that came out will be indeed punished."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also called the circumstances of Saddam's hanging "unacceptable." He had "always made clear our opposition to the death penalty, including after it was imposed on Saddam Hussein. That has remained a consistent part of our message," said his spokesman.

Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: "The Iraqi government carried out the death sentence in such an amateurish way that that the brutal, undignified spectacle even shocked the Shiite enemies of the old regime.

"The gallows in its modern form is a death machine that has been developed over centuries and in contrast with other methods is intended to permit a rapid, dignified -- some say more "humane" -- death. But what happened in Baghdad show there is no such thing as a dignified death and definitely no humane one.

"The Iraqi government described al-Tikriti's decapitation as 'God's will.' In truth it was only the incompetence of people who think they're carrying out God's will."

Conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine writes: "Both were anything but innocent but the new Iraqi government, had it commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, could have signalled that the imagined 'new Iraq' at least wanted to start ridding itself of the gruesome rituals that have long been a fact of life between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

"It's uncertain whether anything approaching an acceptable judicial system will develop in the foreseeable future."

-- David Crossland, 2:30 p.m. CET