Iraqi authorities were conducting DNA tests to confirm the identity of Saddam Hussein’s former second-in-command, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, captured in northern Iraq today.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S reign of terror included genocide, mass executions, torture and a catalogue of human rights abuses.

A glance at the life of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein:

US forces moved a step closer to the most wanted man in Saddam Hussein’s regime yesterday, detaining his four nephews in a pre-dawn raid and capturing another top fugitive thought to be a paymaster in the anti-coalition insurgency.

US soldiers have seized four relatives of the man America believes is masterminding attacks against its troops, in early morning raids today.

Saddam Hussein is being compliant but unhelpful to his American interrogators who have made little progress in gaining information as to whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or ties to al-Qaida terror, officials said today.

A chronology of the major dates in Saddam’s presidency

A glance at the life of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein:

US troops arrested the wife and daughter of a top Saddam Hussein deputy suspected of masterminding attacks on US troops, and a major pipeline linking northern Iraqi oilfields to the country’s biggest refinery was ablaze today.

A CLOSE confidant of Saddam Hussein, whose daughter is the widow of one of the deposed dictator's sons, is believed to be working with an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group to co-ordinate attacks in Iraq.

American soldiers arrested a suspected former Ba’ath Party official in northern Iraq today as three American soldiers were killed in separate attacks.

Former Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, number 20 on the US Most Wanted list, has been captured, the US Defence Department said today.

US President George W Bush yesterday ducked questions over a White House admission that he used flawed intelligence on Iraq’s nuclear programme, while insisting he was right to oust Saddam Hussein.

US forces in Iraq have arrested two more former officials on Washington’s Most Wanted list, Central Command said today.

US forces have captured two more of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, including a former member of Saddam Hussein’s inner circle, officials said today.

IRAQI mosque preachers sought to calm tensions with US troops yesterday and demanded that the United States establish a government to restore order after US President George W Bush declared the war over.

Three more of Saddam Hussein’s top officials have been captured in Iraq, the US army said today.

A top official from Saddam Hussein’s former regime, a man said to be a close confidant of the deposed Iraqi leader, has been captured in Baghdad

Former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz was being questioned today over the fate of Saddam Hussein and the whereabouts of chemical and biological weapons.

A top enforcer in Saddam Hussein’s regime may face war crimes charges after being captured and handed over to Allied forces in Iraq, officials said today.

Armed members of President Saddam Hussein’s Baath party fanned out across Baghdad in a show of force today while other residents hunkered down before a US ultimatum expires for the Iraqi leader to leave Iraq or face war.

The Baghdad streets were eerily quiet today as the US deadline approached for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face a massive military onslaught.

IRAQ, a cradle of early civilisation and reputed birthplace of agriculture, beer and the written word, boasts proven oil reservessecond only to those of Saudi Arabia.

Iraq said most of the helicopters used by United Nations weapons inspectors were flown out to Syria today en route to Cyprus after a Western insurance company suspended its cover for the aircraft.

Saddam Hussein has placed Iraq on a war footing, placing his son and three trusted lieutenants in charge of four military regions to defend against a US-led invasion.

The Iraqi parliament today unanimously recommended rejection of a a UN resolution on arms inspections, but said the final decision would be left to President Saddam Hussein.

IRAQ’S parliament last night condemned a tough new UN resolution as full of lies and ill intentions during a special session in which a senior MP urged it to be rejected — a prospect that certainly would bring on war.

Iraq’s parliament tonight condemned a tough, new UN resolution as full of lies and ill intentions during a special session in which a senior MP urged it be rejected - a prospect that certainly would bring on war.

The Iraqi parliament was convening in an emergency session today, called by President Saddam Hussein to consider a response to a UN resolution and a day after Arab ministers urged Baghdad to cooperate with weapons inspectors.

Saddam Hussein, whose seven year presidential term expires in October, was today nominated for another term by the country's top decision-making body.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his senior aides discussed a general mobilisation of the country to face the prospect of a US strike, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

Iraq's state-run media has named two people as victims of the largest attack by US and British warplanes in two years.

Saddam Hussein has begun to form an army to liberate Jerusalem from Israeli rule.