Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) was President of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party which espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and socialism. In 2003, a coalition led by the United States invaded Iraq to depose Saddam, in which United States President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair falsely accused him of possessing weapons of mass destruction and having ties to al-Qaeda.
Saddam's Ba'ath party was disbanded and elections were held. Following his capture on 13 December 2003, the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government. On 5 November 2006, Saddam was convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shia, and sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed on 30 December 2006.