Profiles of Saddam and the other defendants in the Iraq trial
SADDAM HUSSEIN- Found guilty and sentenced to death
Born 1937. Strongman leader after the 1968 Baath party coup, he formally took over the presidency in 1979, ruling with absolute authority and often brutal force. An ally of the United States when he fought Islamic revolutionary Iran for eight years during the 1980s, Saddam became its enemy after invading Kuwait in 1990.
After US-led forces expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait, Iraq was placed under international sanctions. After US and British forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, following years of international efforts to prevent it developing weapons of mass destruction, Saddam went on the run. He was captured near his home town of Tikrit on Dec. 13, 2003.
TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN- Guilty, life in prison
Former Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan in the dock. AP Photo/Scott Nelson
Born 1938. 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 US military's invasion list of 55 most wanted Iraqis, Ramadan, vice president at the time of the US invasion, was captured by Kurdish guerrillas in the northern city of Mosul in August 2003.
BARZAN IBRAHIM AL-TIKRITI- Guilty, sentenced to death
Barzan Ibrahim, half brother of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and former intelligence chief. AP Photo/Scott Nelson
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.
AWAD HAMED AL-BANDER- Guilty, sentenced to death
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 in 1982, and sentenced many of them to be executed. Bander's defence lawyer was abducted from his office and killed the day after the trial started.
OTHER DEFENDANTS:
ABDULLAH KATHIM RUWAID- Guilty, 15 years in prison. Local Baath party official in the Dujail area.
ALI DAYIH ALI- Guilty, 15 years in prison. Local Baath party official in the Dujail area.
MIZHIR ABDULLAH KATHIM RUWAID- Guilty, 15 years in prison. Local Baath party official in the Dujail area and son of Abdullah Kathim Ruwaid.
MOHAMMED AZAWI ALI- Acquitted. Local Baath party official in the Dujail area.