A government official said Saddam Hussein's former deputy was hanged in Iraq for his role in the killings of 148 Shiites in 1982. The Iraqi government had asked U.S. authorities for custody of Taha

A government official said Saddam Hussein's former deputy was hanged in Iraq for his role in the killings of 148 Shiites in 1982. The Iraqi government had asked U.S. authorities for custody of Taha Yassin Ramadan to hang him at dawn today, the fourth anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
At least 18 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in a series of bombings in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad -- the most devastating when two parked car bombs exploded within 10 minutes in a southern part of the city. Fourteen civilians and four policemen were killed and 40 were wounded, police said.
The U.S. military also said two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 12 were wounded when explosives planted by insurgents in a building being used as an observation post were detonated Sunday, causing the structure to collapse in Fallujah.
In the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, police said at least 25 decomposed bodies -- some beheaded -- were found near a post office east of the provincial capital Ramadi.
Police Lt. Col. Hamid Khalaf Salim said the victims disappeared months ago after clashes between al-Qaida in Iraq and the Albu Soda clan, which recently joined the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of clans backing the government against the terror network. The U.S. military said it had no information on the report.