The execution of Saddam Hussein took place on December 30 (the
first day of Eid-al-Adha). He was sentenced to death by hanging,
after being found guilty and convicted of crimes against
humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the murder of 148
Iraqi Shi'ite in the town of Dujail in 1982, in retaliation for
an assassination attempt against him. Saddam Hussein was
President of Iraq from July 16, 1979 until April 9, 2003, when
he was deposed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led
Allied Coalition . After his capture , near his hometown Tikrit
, he was incarcerated at Camp Cropper . On November 5, 2006, he
was sentenced to death by hanging. On December 30, 2006, he was
taken to the prison to be executed. The Iraqi government
released an official videotape of his execution, showing him
being led to the gallows, and ending after his head was in the
hangman's noose. International public controversy arose when an
unauthorized cell phone recording of the hanging showed him
falling through the trap door of the