Reuters AlertNet Lite - FACTBOX-Co-defendants in trial of Saddam Hussein

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FACTBOX-Co-defendants in trial of Saddam Hussein

04 Nov 2006 23:04:12 GMT
Source: Reuters

Nov 5 (Reuters) - A verdict is expected on Sunday in the trial of Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants charged with ordering the killing and torture of hundreds of Shi'ite villagers after a 1982 assassination attempt in Dujail.

Following are brief profiles of the defendants:

PROSECUTORS SEEKING THE DEATH PENALTY:

SADDAM HUSSEIN

Born 1937. Strongman after the 1968 Baath party coup, he formally took over the presidency in 1979, ruling with absolute authority and often brutal force. A U.S. ally when he fought Islamic revolutionary Iran for eight years during the 1980s, Saddam became a U.S. enemy after invading Kuwait in 1990.

After U.S.-led forces expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait, Iraq was placed under international sanctions. Saddam went on the run after U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq in March 2003. He was captured near his home town of Tikrit on Dec. 13, 2003.

TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN

Born 1938. Vice president until 2003, Ramadan joined the Baath party in the mid-1950s and later became a hardline member of Saddam's inner circle. He held several senior positions, including industry minister in the 1970s. He was once reported to have said: "I don't know anything about industry. All I know is that anyone who doesn't work hard will be executed."

Iraqi exiles accused him and other officials of brutally stamping out a Shi'ite Muslim uprising in the south in 1991 and killing thousands of Kurds in the north in 1988. Number 20 on the U.S. military's invasion list of 55 most wanted Iraqis, Ramadan was captured by Kurdish guerrillas in the northern city of Mosul in August 2003.

BARZAN IBRAHIM AL-TIKRITI

One of Saddam's three younger half-brothers. Former head of feared Mukhabarat intelligence service and adviser to Saddam. No. 38 on the most-wanted list, Barzan was captured in April 2003. As intelligence chief, he was accused of ordering mass murder and torture, and of personally taking part in human rights abuses, including the destruction of villages.

Barzan is suffering from cancer but Iraq's government has said it would not consider freeing him. Gunmen killed a lawyer working for Barzan and Ramadan in Baghdad in November and wounded a colleague.

AWAD HAMED AL-BANDER

Former chief judge in Saddam's Revolutionary Court, which is accused of organising show trials that often led to summary executions. Bander was the judge in charge of trying many of the more than 140 Shi'ite men killed after an attempt to assassinate Saddam as his motorcade drove through the town of Dujail in July 1982. Some were killed in fighting. Bander sentenced many others to be executed. Bander's defence lawyer was abducted from his office and killed the day after the trial started.

OTHERS FACING SENTENCING

ABDULLAH KATHIM RUWAID

Local Baath party official in the Dujail area.

ALI DAYIH ALI

Local Baath party official in the Dujail area.

MIZHIR ABDULLAH KATHIM RUWAID

Local Baath party official in the Dujail area and son of Abdullah Kathim Ruwaid.

PROSECUTORS HAVE RECOMMENDED RELEASE:

MOHAMMED AZAWI ALI

Local Baath party official in the Dujail area.

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Last updated:Sat Nov 4 23:06:05 2006