No set date for Iraqi executions

Baghdad: No date has been set for the hanging of two former Saddam Hussain aides, an Iraqi official said on Thursday.

There had been reports that Saddam's half brother, former head of intelligence, Barzan Al Tikriti and former judge Awad Al Bander would hang on Thursday but that was denied by an aid to Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki.

Bahaa Al Araji, a lawmaker for radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's political group, said he thought the executions might take place after the Eid holiday on Sunday.

"As far as I know, the executions will take place on Sunday, if things stand as they are," Al Araji said. "I'm not sure about what time, but I doubt it will be in the same place."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour urged Iraqi authorities on Wednesday not to execute the two men.

Maliki brushed aside a similar appeal from Arbour before Saddam's execution, and shocked many in Iraq by having him hanged on the first day of Eid.

Barzan and Bander were found guilty along with Saddam of crimes against humanity in the killings of 148 Shiite men from Dujail in the 1980s.