Saddam Hussein looked a "broken and weak" man as he was led to his death, a witness to the execution said.
Iraqi national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie described how he stared into Saddam's eyes as the fallen dictator tried to reassure himself by muttering: "Do not be afraid."
"I think it was a reassurance for himself. He was very, very broken, he looked really, really weak," he said.
In interviews with Sky News and Fox News, Mr al-Rubaie gave a detailed account of the execution process and described how he personally helped carry Saddam's body away from the gallows.
He said the Iraqi authorities took custody of Saddam from coalition forces at 5.30am local time. He said the ex-dictator had been handcuffed and taken inside the building where he was to be executed, with a judge, several Iraqi ministers and a doctor present.
"The judge took him through the conviction, what he was convicted of - and he started basically, his rhetoric, 'love live Islam, down with the West, down with that, down with this,' he started basically shouting his head off," Mr al-Rubaie said.
"Then we took him to the gallows room, the chamber, and we stood with him and he was wondering what was going on, and he looked at the gallows, and he was not believing what was going to happen.
"I looked at him and he kept staring at me and he said: 'Don't be afraid' - and I couldn't see any remorse on his face.
"After he stood up, the guards tied his legs and carried him up to the gallows in front of our eyes. He went up and he was offered the hood but he turned it down; he said 'no, there's no need for that'."
Mr al-Rubaie continued: "He was standing and the rope went around his neck and the executioner started to read the rituals from Koran, verses, and what we call the witness, 'There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger'. He repeated this twice and then he went down in no time, it was so so quick and totally painless, it was over in a second. There was no movement after that."
