126 Facts About Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003.

Saddam Hussein previously served as the vice president from 1968 to 1979 and as the prime minister from 1979 to 1991 and later from 1994 to 2003.

Saddam Hussein was born in the village of Al-Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq, to a Sunni Arab family.

Saddam Hussein joined the Ba'ath Party in 1957, and later in 1966 the Iraqi and Baghdad-based Ba'ath parties.

In 2003, a US-led coalition invaded Iraq, falsely accusing Saddam Hussein of developing weapons of mass destruction and of having ties with al-Qaeda.

On 5 November 2006, Saddam Hussein was convicted by the Iraqi High Tribunal of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 Dujail massacre of over 140 Shia Muslims and sentenced to death by hanging.

Human Rights Watch estimated that Saddam Hussein's regime was responsible for the murder or disappearance of 250,000 to 290,000 Iraqis.

Saddam Hussein's government has been described by several analysts as authoritarian and totalitarian, and by some as fascist, although the applicability of those labels has been contested.

Saddam Hussein Al-Majid Al-Tikriti was born on 28 April 1937, in al-Awja, a small village near Tikrit, to Hussein Abid Al-Majid and Subha Tulfah Al-Mussallat.

The majority of the Al-Bu Nasir led a Bedouin life in Tikrit, Saddam's own father Hussein Al-Majid being a shepherd Bedouin.

Subha "would have nothing to do with him", and Saddam Hussein was eventually taken in by an uncle.

Saddam Hussein's mother remarried, and Saddam gained three half-brothers through this marriage.

At around the age of 10, Saddam Hussein fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Khairallah Talfah, who became a fatherly figure to Saddam Hussein.

Talfah, the father of Saddam Hussein's future wife, was a devout Sunni Muslim and a veteran of the 1941 Anglo-Iraqi War between Iraqi nationalists and the United Kingdom, which remained a major colonial power in the region.

Saddam Hussein's policies angered several pan-Arab organizations, including the Ba'ath Party, which later began plotting to assassinate Qasim at Al-Rashid Street on 7 October 1959 and take power.

Saddam Hussein was recruited to the assassination conspiracy by its ring-leader, Abdul Karim al-Shaikhly, after one of the would-be assassins left.

Saddam Hussein himself is not believed to have received any training outside of Iraq, as he was a late addition to the assassination team.

Unlike during the Qasim years, Saddam Hussein remained in Iraq following Arif's anti-Ba'athist purge in November 1963, and became involved in planning to assassinate Arif.

Saddam Hussein was arrested in October 1964 and served approximately two years in prison before escaping in 1966.

In September 1966, Saddam Hussein initiated an extraordinary challenge to Syrian domination of the Ba'ath Party in response to the Marxist takeover of the Syrian Ba'ath earlier that year, resulting in the Party's formalized split into two separate factions.

Saddam Hussein then created a Ba'athist security service, which he alone controlled.

In July 1968, Saddam Hussein participated in a bloodless coup led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr that overthrew Abdul Rahman Arif, Salam Arif's brother and successor.

Al-Bakr was named president and Saddam Hussein was named his deputy, and deputy chairman of the Ba'athist Revolutionary Command Council.

Al-Bakr was the older and more prestigious of the two, but by 1969 Saddam Hussein had become the moving force behind the party.

On 1 June 1972, Saddam Hussein oversaw the seizure of international oil interests, which, at the time, dominated the country's oil sector.

Saddam Hussein implemented a national infrastructure campaign that made great progress in building roads, promoting mining, and developing other industries.

Saddam Hussein nationalized independent banks, eventually leaving the banking system insolvent due to inflation and bad loans.

Saddam Hussein focused on fostering loyalty to the Ba'athists in the rural areas.

Saddam Hussein's regime aimed to diversify the Iraqi economy beyond oil.

Saddam Hussein had a good instinct for what the "Arab street" demanded, following the decline in Egyptian leadership brought about by the trauma of Israel's six-day victory in the 1967 war, the death of the pan-Arabist hero, Gamal Abdel Nasser, in 1970, and the "traitorous" drive by his successor, Anwar Sadat, to sue for peace with the Jewish state.

Saddam Hussein's self-aggrandizing propaganda, with himself posing as the defender of Arabism against Zionist or Persian intruders, was heavy-handed, but consistent as a drumbeat.

Saddam Hussein was notable for using terror against his own people.

Conversely, Saddam Hussein used Iraq's oil wealth to develop an extensive patronage system for the regime's supporters.

In foreign affairs, Saddam Hussein sought to have Iraq play a leading role in the Middle East.

In 1972, Saddam Hussein signed a 15-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Saddam Hussein's visit to Spain took place in December 1974, when the Caudillo of Spain, Francisco Franco, invited him to Madrid and he visited Granada, Cordoba and Toledo.

Saddam Hussein's 1975 visit further cemented close ties with French business and ruling political circles.

Saddam Hussein aimed to secure Iraq's territorial claims, particularly regarding the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which had been a longstanding source of contention between Iran and Iraq.

The signing of the Algiers Agreement occurred during a period of relative stability in Iraq, with Saddam Hussein gradually consolidating power within the ruling Ba'ath Party.

Saddam Hussein played a pivotal role in the negotiations leading up to the Algiers Agreement, representing Iraq's interests.

Saddam Hussein's growing influence within the government allowed him to shape Iraq's approach and stance during the negotiation process.

In 1976, Saddam Hussein rose to the position of general in the Iraqi armed forces, and rapidly became the strongman of the government.

Saddam Hussein soon became the architect of Iraq's foreign policy and represented the nation in all diplomatic situations.

Saddam Hussein was the de facto leader of Iraq some years before he formally came to power in 1979.

Saddam Hussein slowly began to consolidate his power over Iraq's government and the Ba'ath party.

Relationships with fellow party members were carefully cultivated, and Saddam Hussein soon accumulated a powerful circle of support within the party.

Saddam Hussein forced the ailing al-Bakr to resign on 16 July 1979, and formally assumed the presidency.

Saddam Hussein convened an assembly of Ba'ath party leaders on 22 July 1979.

However, contrary to popular belief, Saddam Hussein was not inherently sectarian.

Saddam Hussein borrowed tens of billions of dollars from other Arab states and a few billions from elsewhere.

Shortly before the beginning the Gulf War in 1990, Saddam Hussein built a new city for the Kurds nearby, named as Saddam Hussein's Halabja.

Saddam Hussein reached out to other Arab governments for cash and political support during the war, particularly after Iraq's oil industry severely suffered at the hands of the Iranian navy in the Persian Gulf.

Saddam Hussein urged the Kuwaitis to waive the Iraqi debt accumulated in the war, some $30 billion, but they refused.

Saddam Hussein pushed oil-exporting countries to raise oil prices by cutting back production; Kuwait refused, then led the opposition in OPEC to the cuts that Saddam Hussein had requested.

Saddam Hussein had consistently argued that Kuwait had historically been an integral part of Iraq, and had only come into being as a result of interference from the British government; echoing a belief that Iraqi nationalists had supported for the past fifty years.

Saddam Hussein still had an experienced and well-equipped army, which he used to influence regional affairs.

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, initially claiming assistance to "Kuwaiti revolutionaries", thus sparking an international crisis.

Shortly before he invaded Kuwait, Saddam Hussein shipped 100 new Mercedes cars 200 Series cars to top editors in Egypt and Jordan.

Cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union made possible the passage of resolutions in the United Nations Security Council giving Iraq a deadline to leave Kuwait and approving the use of force if Saddam Hussein did not comply with the timetable.

Saddam Hussein's officers looted Kuwait, stripping even the marble from its palaces to move it to Saddam Hussein's own palace.

Saddam Hussein publicly claimed victory at the end of the war.

The US, which had urged Iraqi people to rise up against Saddam Hussein, did nothing to assist the rebellions.

Saddam Hussein, having survived the immediate crisis in the wake of defeat, was left firmly in control of Iraq, although the country never recovered either economically or militarily from the Gulf War, until a modest recovery recorded in the early 2000s.

Saddam Hussein routinely cited his survival as "proof" that Iraq had in fact won the war against the US This message earned Saddam Hussein a great deal of popularity in many sectors of the Arab world.

Saddam Hussein might be wrong, but it is not America who should correct him.

Some elements of Sharia law were introduced, and the phrase "Allahu Akbar", in Saddam Hussein's handwriting, was added to the national flag.

Saddam Hussein commissioned the production of a "Blood Qur'an", written using 27 litres of his own blood, to thank God for saving him from various dangers and conspiracies.

On 9 December 1996, Saddam Hussein's government accepted the Oil-for-Food Programme that the UN had first offered in 1992.

American officials continued to accuse Saddam Hussein of violating the terms of the Gulf War's ceasefire, by developing weapons of mass destruction and other banned weaponry, and violating the UN-imposed sanctions.

Also, Bill Clinton maintained sanctions and ordered air strikes in the "Iraqi no-fly zones", in the hope that Saddam Hussein would be overthrown by political enemies inside Iraq.

Saddam Hussein later decided to use Euro, instead of Dollars for Iraqi oil.

Saddam Hussein launched a broad plan to reorganize Baghdad as a cultural center.

Saddam Hussein commenced the congress with a speech advising the more than 300 delegates on how to vote.

Saddam Hussein had recently encouraged women to play a greater role in Iraq.

In foreign affairs, Saddam Hussein sought to have Iraq play a leading role in the Middle East.

Saddam Hussein rarely left Iraq and had Tariq Aziz, one of his deputies, travel abroad extensively and represent Iraq at many diplomatic meetings.

Saddam Hussein enjoyed a close relationship with Russian intelligence agent Yevgeny Primakov that dated back to the 1960s; Primakov may have helped Saddam Hussein to stay in power in 1991.

In July 2001, Russian president Vladimir Putin sent a message to Saddam Hussein, seeking to improve diplomatic relations between Iraq and Russia.

Several Iraqi leaders, Lebanese arms merchant Sarkis Soghanalian and others have claimed that Saddam Hussein financed Chirac's party.

Saddam Hussein supported the Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan in Iran.

Saddam Hussein was widely known for his pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance.

Saddam Hussein appeared on television threatening to burn and destroy Israel.

Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq hosted numerous Palestinians as refugees and were given full rights as an Iraqi citizen, unlike situation of Palestinians in other countries.

Saddam Hussein had support of Yasser Arafat and had close relations with other Palestinian politicl leaders such as Muhammad Hassan Abd al-Rahman Melhem, and invited many to Iraq.

Saddam Hussein provided financial assistance from Iraq's oil revenue, to the families of the Palestinian victims and militants.

On eve of Christmas in 2000, Saddam Hussein wrote a public letter, calling for Muslims and Christians of Iraq, to lead jihad against the Zionist movement.

In 2002, following an Israeli offensive into Palestinian territory, Saddam Hussein stopped supplying oil to Western countries in order to force Israel to abandon its offensive, a move supported by Iran and Libya.

Many members of the international community, especially the US, continued to view Saddam Hussein as a bellicose tyrant who was a threat to the stability of the region.

Saddam Hussein expressed a wish to have a live televised debate with George W Bush, which was declined.

Saddam Hussein later told an FBI interviewer that he once left open the possibility that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in order to appear strong against Iran.

The resistance of the much-weakened Iraqi Armed Forces either crumbled or shifted to guerrilla tactics, and it appeared that Saddam Hussein had lost control of Iraq.

Saddam Hussein was last seen in a video which purported to show him in the Baghdad suburbs surrounded by supporters.

Various sightings of Saddam Hussein were reported in the weeks following the war, but none were authenticated.

Saddam Hussein was placed at the top of the US list of most-wanted Iraqis, which included officials of his government and the party members.

On 13 December 2003, in Operation Red Dawn, Saddam Hussein was captured by American forces after being found hiding in a hole in the ground near a farmhouse in ad-Dawr, near Tikrit.

Saddam Hussein was shown with a full beard and hair longer than his familiar appearance.

Saddam Hussein was described by US officials as being in good health.

British tabloid newspaper The Sun posted a picture of Saddam Hussein wearing white briefs on the front cover of a newspaper.

The nickname and the garden are among the details about the former Iraqi leader that emerged during a March 2008 tour of the Baghdad prison and cell where Saddam Hussein slept, bathed, kept a journal, and wrote poetry in the final days before his execution; he was concerned to ensure his legacy and how the history would be told.

On 30 June 2004, Saddam Hussein, held in custody by US forces at the US base "Camp Cropper", along with 11 other senior Ba'athist leaders, was handed over to the interim Iraqi government to stand trial for crimes against humanity and other offences.

Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging on the first day of Eid ul-Adha, 30 December 2006, despite his wish to be executed by firing squad.

The accounts of the two witnesses are contradictory as Haddad describes Saddam Hussein as being strong in his final moments whereas al-Rubaie says Saddam Hussein was clearly afraid, but the common view is not of the latter.

Not long before the execution, Saddam Hussein's lawyers released his last letter.

Saddam Hussein recited the shahada one and a half times, as while he was about to say 'Muhammad' on the second shahada, the trapdoor opened, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Saddam Hussein was buried at his birthplace of Al-Awja in Tikrit, Iraq, on 31 December 2006.

Saddam Hussein's tomb was reported to have been destroyed in March 2015.

On 28 April 2001, Saddam Hussein celebrated his birthday, in form of a mega event.

In return, Yasso said that Saddam Hussein donated US$250,000 to his church, which is made up of at least 1,200 families of Middle Eastern descent.

Saddam Hussein was honored by titles such as "Field Marshal" and "Comrade".

Saddam Hussein is one of the recipients of the Key to the City.

In 1980, Saddam Hussein was awarded a key to the city of Detroit after he donated almost half a million dollars to a church in the city.

The government led by Saddam Hussein successfully turned Iraq into a leading hub for healthcare and education.

For improving quality of life of Iraqis, Saddam Hussein was honored by an award from UNESCO.

Saddam Hussein received a number of medals, which were displayed at a museum in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Saddam Hussein received the Order of Merit, which is rare and was awarded to only a few Iraqi rulers.

Saddam Hussein believed that the recognition of the ancient Mesopotamian origins and heritage of Iraqi Arabs was complementary to supporting Arab nationalism.

Saddam Hussein conducted two show elections, in 1995 and 2002.

Saddam Hussein erected statues around the country, which Iraqis toppled after his fall.

Under Saddam Hussein's regime, there was an emphasis on improving access to education and healthcare.

Saddam Hussein implemented policies aimed at advancing women's rights in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein's regime had a secular character, which meant that religion did not play a dominant role in the government's policies.

Saddam Hussein's regime was notorious for its repressive tactics, including widespread surveillance, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Saddam Hussein's regime suppressed political dissent and opposition through a combination of violence, intimidation, and censorship.

Saddam Hussein initiated three military conflicts, including the Iran-Iraq War, Invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf War.

Cultural depictions of Saddam Hussein can be found in various movies, including three documentary movies made on Saddam Hussein.

Irish actor Barry Keoghan will appear in a new movie about Saddam Hussein which was announced in 2024.