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Last Updated: Dec 29th, 2006 - 18:00:23 |
A glance at the life of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein:
April 28, 1937 Born in village near Tikrit, north of Baghdad.
1957 Joins underground Baath Socialist Party.
1958 Arrested for killing his brother-in-law, a Communist. Spends six months in prison.
Oct. 7, 1959 On Baath assassination team that ambushes Iraqi strongman Gen. Abdel-Karim Kassem in Baghdad, wounding him. Saddam, wounded in leg, flees to Syria then Egypt.
Feb. 8, 1963 Returns after Baath takes part in coup that overthrows and kills Kassem.
July 30, 1968 Becomes chief of internal security under President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, his cousin.
July 16, 1979 Takes over as president from al-Bakr, launches major purge of Baath members.
Sept. 22, 1980 Sends troops into Iran; war lasts eight years.
March 28, 1988 Uses chemical weapons against Kurdish town of Halabja, killing estimated 5,000 civilians.
Aug. 2, 1990 Invades Kuwait, but sees his army driven out by U.S.-led coalition five months later.
Feb. 20, 1996 Orders killing of two sons-in-law who had defected to Jordan but returned to Baghdad after receiving guarantees of safety.
Nov. 27, 2002 Under U.N. threat of "serious consequences," allows U.N. weapons experts back into Iraq.
March 17, 2003 Gets 48-hour deadline from President Bush to give up power and leave Iraq. War begins three days later, chasing him from Baghdad on April 9.
July 22, 2003 His sons, Qusai and Odai, killed in gunbattle with American soldiers.
Dec. 13, 2003 Captured while hiding in hole in ground near Tikrit.
July 1, 2004 Arraigned before judge, rejects charges of war crimes and genocide.
Oct. 19, 2005 Goes on trial with seven co-defendants charged in 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims, stemming from attempt to assassinate him in Dujail.
March 1, 2006 Admits ordering trial of 148 Shiites eventually executed, but insists doing so was legal.
April 4, 2006 Faces new criminal charges, for second trial with six others, in connection with brutal 1987-88 crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq.
June 19, 2006 Hears prosecution demand death penalty in closing arguments at Dujail trial, saying he showed "no mercy" in the killings of women and children.
Aug. 21, 2006 At opening of second trial, shouts at prosecutors and refuses to enter plea to charges of genocide and war crimes.
Nov. 5, 2006 Trembles but remains defiant as tribunal in first trial announces guilty verdict and sentences him to hang.
Dec. 26, 2006 Iraq's highest court rejects appeal of conviction, saying Saddam must be hanged within 30 days.
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