Chronology of Saddam Hussein's life

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

April 28, 1937 – Born in village near desert town of 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 from Egypt after Baath takes part in coup that overthrows and kills Kassem. Baath ousted by military in November.

July 17, 1968 – Baathists and army officers overthrow regime.

July 30, 1968 – Takes charge of internal security after Baath ousts former allies and authority passes to Revolutionary Command Council under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam’s cousin.

July 16, 1979 – Takes over as president from al-Bakr, launches massive purge of Baath.

Sept 22, 1980 – Sends forces 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.

Jan 17, 1991 – Attacked by US-led coalition Kuwait liberated in a month.

March, 1991 – Crushes Shiite revolt in south and Kurd revolt in north.

April 17, 1991 – Complying with United Nations Resolution 687, starts providing information on weapons of mass destruction, but accused of cheating.

Feb 20, 1996 – Orders killing of two sons-in-law who in 1995 defected to Jordan and had just returned to Baghdad after receiving guarantees of safety.

Dec 16, 1998 – Weapons inspectors withdrawn from Iraq. Hours later, four days of US-British air and missile strikes begin as punishment for lack of cooperation.

Nov 8, 2002 – Threatened with “serious consequences” if he does not disarm as ordered UN by Security Council resolution.

Nov 27, 2002 – Allows UN experts to begin work in Iraq for first time since 1998.

Dec 7, 2002 – Delivers to United Nations declaration denying Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. United States says declaration is untruthful and United Nations says it is incomplete.

March 1, 2003 – United Arab Emirates, at an Arab League summit, becomes first Arab nation to propose publicly that Saddam step down.

March 7 – United States, Britain and Spain propose ordering Saddam to give up banned weapons by March 17 or face war.

March 17 – United States, Britain and Spain declare time for diplomacy over, withdraw proposed resolution. President George Bush gives Saddam 48 hours to leave Iraq.

March 18 – Iraq’s leadership rejects Bush’s ultimatum.

March 20 – US forces open war with military strike on Dora Farms, a target south of Baghdad where Saddam and his sons are said to be. Saddam appears on Iraqi television later in the day.

April 4 – Iraqi television shows video of Saddam walking a Baghdad street.

April 7 – US warplanes bomb a section of the Mansur district in Baghdad where Saddam and his sons were said to be meeting.

April 9 – Jubilant crowds greet US troops in Baghdad, go on looting rampages, topple 40-foot statue of Saddam.

July 22 – Saddam’s sons, Qusai and Odai, killed in gunbattle with US troops. American forces then raid the northern city of Mosul and later say they missed Saddam “by a matter of hours”.

July 27 – US troops raid three farms in Tikrit. Again, officials later say they missed Saddam by 24 hours.

July 31 – Two of Saddam’s daughters, Raghad and Rana, and their nine children are given asylum by Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Sept 5 – Maj Gen Ray Odierno of the US 4th Infantry Division says his troops have captured several of Saddam’s former bodyguards in the Tikrit area in the past month and may be closing in on the deposed Iraqi dictator.

Nov 16 – The last of nine tapes attributed to Saddam Hussein since he was removed from power is released.

Dec 13 – Saddam is captured at 8.30pm (5.30pm Irish time) in the town of Adwar, 10 miles south of Tikrit. He is hiding in a specially prepared “spider hole.”