Saddam Hussein was executed in 2006 (Image: Sygma via Getty Images)
Saddam Hussein governed Iraq with an unyielding grip for over 20 years, dominating the Middle Eastern country through intimidation, brutality and control, ruthlessly suppressing any opposition.
However, in 2006, his regime collapsed following a US-led invasion of Iraq, and in the early hours of December 30 2006, the man who once led an army stood beneath a hangman’s noose, awaiting his fate.
Hussein was officially found guilty of crimes against humanity in relation to a massacre that occurred in 1982 in Dujail, where 148 Shi’ite men and boys were savagely murdered following an assassination attempt.
After a protracted and contentious trial before the Iraqi Special Tribunal, he was sentenced to death by hanging.
Saddam had requested execution by firing squad, contending it was the appropriate military punishment for a former commander-in-chief, but the court denied this request.
Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein being dragged out of his hiding following his capture by US troops (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
In the hours preceding his death at Camp Justice in Baghdad, the former tyrant consumed a last meal of chicken and rice accompanied by hot water and honey.
He held a Qur’an as he was escorted into the execution chamber just before dawn on the first day of Eid al-Adha, reports the Mirror.
Witnesses within the room later recounted a tense and disorderly environment. While some officials remained silent, others taunted as chants lauding Islamic cleric Muqtada al-Sadr echoed whilst Saddam stood on the gallows platform, with the rope looming above him.
Despite enduring relentless taunts throughout the procedure, witnesses said he remained calm.
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein yells at the court (Image: AP)
When questioned whether he experienced fear or regret, he reportedly responded that he was not afraid. Instead, he said that he devoted his life to combating aggression.
As the noose was placed around his neck, Saddam began reciting the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith. He raised his voice above the commotion in the chamber.
Then came his final six words.
« The Muslim Ummah will be victorious. »
Before he could utter anything more the trapdoor opened, and an audible crack was heard as he fell. He was declared dead minutes later.
Whilst official Iraqi government footage showed him only in the moments preceding the execution, cutting away before the drop, a grainy mobile phone recording, covertly filmed from the chamber, subsequently emerged online.
The footage captured the complete hanging, the sectarian abuse and Hussein’s final defiant exchanges, triggering international condemnation and controversy over the dignity of the execution.
Within hours, his body was transported by helicopter to his birthplace of Al-Awja near Tikrit where he was buried in front of his two sons.
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