Saddam Hussein's two co-defendants, his half brother and the former chief of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were hanged before dawn on Monday, CNN reported.

Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother, and Awad Hamed al-Bandarhad been found guilty along with Saddam of the killing of nearly 150 Shiites in Dujail village, some 60 km north of Baghdad, following a 1982 assassination attempt on the former leader.

The execution came two weeks and two days after Saddam's execution on Dec. 30, which drew a mixed reaction from around the world.

On Jan. 6, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Iraq to suspend the execution of "those whose death sentences may be carried out in the near future."

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2007)