McVeigh prepares for death with poem

The Oklahoma bomber is due to die by lethal injection now.

Timothy McVeigh is being prepared for his execution after being removed from his holding cell.

McVeigh's last words are expected to be quotes from a 19th century poem.

The Gulf War veteran will be given a chance to say his final words and a special telephone will be used to check for any last-minute stays of execution.

He is expected to quote an excerpt from William Ernest Henley's poem Invictus saying: "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."

As the clock hands turn to 7am local time, (1pm irish time), US Marshal Frank Anderson will order chemicals be injected into McVeigh's veins.

After he is certified dead by a doctor, his body will be removed and his lawyers will dispose of his ashes after he is cremated.

No members of his family will be there. In Oklahoma, 700 miles away, around 300 survivors and victims' relatives will watch on a television link to the death cell.

McVeigh will be the first person to be executed by the federal government in almost 40 years.

He was convicted of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P Murrah federal building in Oklahoma.

Of the 168 people who were killed, 19 were children.