Former Iraq vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan was hanged to death on Tuesday morning for the killings if 148 Shiites, Iraqi officials said.
Ramadan, who was Saddam's vice president when the regime was ousted four years ago, is the fourth man to be executed for the killings of 148 Shiites following an assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.
Officials who witnessed the hanging said they took all precautions to prevent a repeat of what happened to Saddam's half brother Barzan Ibrahim, who was decapitated on the gallows.
Iraqi Sunnis have been outraged by the executions and international human rights groups have also expressed concern.
Ramadan was convicted in November of murder, forced deportation and torture and sentenced to life in prison. A month later, the appeals court said the sentence was too lenient. The high tribunal then awarded him a death sentence.
Ramadan has all along maintained his innocence, saying his duties were limited to economic affairs, not security issues.
