For more than 40 years the name Saddam Hussein has been
inextricably linked with that of Iraq. Its president since 1979,
his influence on the lives of the people of Iraq, the wider Middle
East and indeed, the global stage, has been unrivalled.
Saddam Hussein grew up in the north of Iraq where he joined the
Baath Party and took part in an unsuccessful coup which eventually
resulted in his being imprisoned in 1963. He and fellow plotters
escaped from prison (above) in 1966.
After escaping jail, he was key in bringing the Baath Party to
power and by 1975 Saddam Hussein was vice-president of Iraq. Four
years later he became president and within days had executed many
of his rivals. Hes seen here celebrating his birthday in
1979.
After the 1979 Iranian Islamic revolution, Iran-Iraq ties declined,
and war began. Despite UN attempts to resolve the war, it continued
for eight years. Saddam Hussein is seen here in a propaganda
picture of the time, manning an RPG.
During the Iran-Iraq War Saddam Hussein enjoyed US backing from the
government of Ronald Reagan. Here Saddam Hussein greets the then US
envoy, Donald Rumsfeld.
Saddam Hussein's influence on daily life in Iraq could be found on
every street corner as vast numbers of murals were painted and
statues erected in his honour.
A number of threats to his life meant he was always accompanied by
a mass of bodyguards including Irshad Yassine (above).
Away from home Saddam Hussein travelled extensively, meeting
leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev, Indira Gandhi, Yasser Arafat and
Cuban President Fidel Castro (above).
Nearer to home he enjoyed close ties with some other Middle Eastern
countries such as Jordan. Here he watches as King Hussein of Jordan
fires an AK47 assault rifle.
In 1990 he led his troops into Kuwait which plunged Iraq and the
Gulf region into chaos. Saddam Hussein is seen here with British
boy Stuart Lockwood, one of a number of westerners paraded on
television as human shields prior to the US air assault on
Baghdad.
A US-led invasion of Kuwait forced Iraq behind its borders and
stripped Saddam Hussein of much of the influence he had previously
enjoyed. His retreating army set fire to the Kuwaiti oilfields,
resulting in a huge ecological disaster.
Throughout the 1990s he remained in power - but under the eyes of
the UN inspectors who suspected him of developing weapons of mass
destruction.
In 2003, after 10 years of sanctions and stop-start weapons
inspections by the UN, the US decided to remove Saddam Hussein's
regime from power. On the first night of military action, he
narrowly escaped a targeted air strike designed to kill him.
Saddam Hussein disappeared after American forces entered Baghdad
and was not seen by the world until 14 December 2003, when dramatic
pictures of the aftermath of his capture were broadcast.
Post-Saddam Iraq has spiralled into increasing sectarian violence
with western forces on the verge of pulling out. Here, near to the
notorious Abu Ghraib prison, families dig out the remains of their
kin who disappeared during Saddam Husseins time in power.
In 2006 Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for his
role in the killing of some 140 men in the mostly Shia town of
Dujail, seized after a failed assassination attempt against him in
1982
On 30 December 2006, Saddam Hussein was hanged in Baghdad for
crimes against humanity. Iraqi television broadcast pictures of his
last moments. The news reader said his death marked the end of a
dark period in Iraq's history.
