According to the Jerusalem Post, they were "Palestine is Arab."
Shortly before the execution, Saddam's hat was removed and Saddam was asked if he wanted to say something, al-Askari said.
"No I don't want to," al-Askari, who was present at the execution, quoted Saddam as saying.
Saddam repeated a prayer after a Sunni Muslim cleric who was present.
"Saddam later was taken to the gallows and refused to have his head covered with a hood," al-Askari said. "Before the rope was put around his neck, Saddam shouted: 'God is great. The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab."'
According to the Los Angeles Times, it was "Muqtada".
Guards escorted Hussein into the room, where he denounced the West and Iran.
Hussein then climbed the high ladder to the gallows.
As his executioners placed a noose around his neck, Hussein blanched but betrayed no emotion, Haddad said.
Hussein refused to wear a hood.
The charged silence that settled over the execution chamber was broken by an exchange between Hussein and four guards, who were apparently followers of Muqtada Sadr, the militant Shiite cleric whose father was killed by Hussein.
"Muqtada Sadr!" they cried out.
Hussein scoffed in reply.
His last word was a sarcastic "Muqtada," Haddad said. "And then he was hanged."
According to the New York Times, they were "Don't be afraid," followed by a private conversation.
Mr. Hussein, in handcuffs, was given to the Iraqis by American troops. The Iraqis led him from his cell to a judge’s chamber and then to an execution room, a bare unadorned concrete room, according to a witness. It was only a few short steps up the gallows.
As the rope was placed around his neck, Mr. Hussein turned to Mr. Rubaie.
“He told me, don’t be afraid,” he recounted. “There was a conversation with him.”
He did not elaborate. He asked that his Koran be given to someone. Mr. Rubaie took note of the person’s name.
According to the Washington Post, relying upon the same source as the New York Times, they were "Don't be afraid."
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, described on state television Hussein's last moments. The execution took place in the headquarters of Hussein's former military intelligence service in Baghdad's Kadhimiyah neighborhood.
"He was frightened. It was clear in his face, but he turned his face at me and said, 'Don't be afraid,' " Rubaie said. "It was just like he was talking about himself."
He added that Hussein did not resist. "It was unbelievable. He just surrendered himself."
Only a small group of Iraqi officials were present in the execution room, Rubaie said. American officials waited outside.
Sami al-Askari, a member of parliament, said Hussein refused to wear a black hood for his hanging. "He died instantly," Askari said on al-Arabiya television.
According to an AP reporter, Steven Hurst, his last word was "Muhammad":
Saddam went to his execution dressed in a black overcoat, dark trousers and a hat. It was unclear if he had been told in advance that he would be hanged just before dawn Saturday. He looked baffled and uncomprehending as one of the hangmen explained the procedure.
He refused to put on a hood that was offered before a black cloth was wound around his neck and the noose draped over his head and tightened.
New video, first broadcast by Al-Jazeera satellite television early Sunday, had sound of someone in the group invited to watch the execution praising the founder of the Shiite Dawa Party, who was executed in 1980 along with his sister by Saddam.
Saddam appeared to smile at those taunting him from below the gallows. He said they were not showing manhood.
Then Saddam began reciting the "Shahada," a Muslim prayer that says there is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger, according to an unabridged copy of the same tape, apparently shot with a camera phone and posted on a Web site.
Saddam made it to midway through his second recitation of the verse. His last word was Muhammad.
Draw your own conclusions on what news American news media choose to report and how they report it.
(Revised.)
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