The former Iraqi president ousted in April 2003 by a US-led invasion was convicted in November of crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ite villagers from Dujail after a failed assassination bid in 1982.

An appeals court upheld the death penalty on Tuesday and the government rushed through the procedures to hang him by the end of the year and before the Eid al-Adha holiday that starts on Saturday, coinciding with the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

The government had kept details of its plans shrouded in secrecy amid concerns it could spark a violent backlash from his former supporters with Iraq on the brink of civil war.

The execution will delight Iraq's majority Shi'ites, who faced oppression during Saddam's three-decade rule, but may anger some in his resentful Sunni minority.

Some Kurdish leaders had sought a delay so they too could see justice for the man they accuse of genocide against them.

Saddam's conviction on November 5 was hailed by US President George W. Bush as a triumph for the democracy he promised to foster in Iraq after the invasion almost four years ago.

"The Americans want him to be hanged respectfully.If Saddam is humiliated publicly or his corpse ill-treated,that could cause an uprising and the Americans would be blamed." Najeeb al-Nueimi A member of Saddam's legal team

With US public support for the war slumping as the number of American dead approaches 3,000, Washington is likely to welcome the death of Saddam, despite misgivings among many allies about capital punishment.

But the hanging could complicate efforts by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to heal Iraq's sectarian divisions with violence spiralling out of control and threatening to pitch the country into full-scale civil war.

Once the belligerent strongman of the Middle East, Saddam's power crumbled when US tanks swept into Baghdad in April 2003. He fled and was captured in December that year by US soldiers who found him hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

"I don't believe that Saddam's execution would remotely help bring peace to the country. ... Even politically I think it would carry ... more negative consequences than positive ones."                   -Italian Premier Romano Prodi. Click to read more comments on executing Saddam

During his three decades in power, Saddam was accused of widespread oppression of political opponents and genocide against Kurds in northern Iraq. His execution means he will never face justice on those charges.

Defiant to the end, Saddam insisted during his trial that he was still the president of Iraq.

He said in a letter written after his conviction in November that he offered himself as a "sacrifice".

"If my soul goes down this path (of martyrdom) it will face God in serenity," he wrote in the letter.

Life and death of Saddam Hussein

Following are key dates in the life of the former Iraqi president:

April 28, 1937 - Born in al-Awja village outside Tikrit, 150 km (90 miles) north of Baghdad.

October 1956 - Joins uprising against pro-British royalist rulers and then becomes a militant in the pan-Arab, secular Baath Party.

October 1959 - A year after overthrow of monarchy, takes part in attempt to kill Prime Minister Abdel-Karim Kassem. Flees abroad.

February 1963 - Returns to Baghdad when the Baath Party seizes power in a military coup but nine months later Baathists are toppled. Caught and jailed. Elected deputy secretary-general of the party while in prison.

July 1968 - Saddam helps plot the coup that puts the Baath Party back in power, deposing President Abdul-Rahman Aref.

March 1975 - As vice-president of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), signs border agreement with the Shah of Iran, who ends support for an Iraqi Kurdish revolt, causing its collapse.

July 16, 1979 - Takes power after President Ahmed Hassan al -Bakr steps aside as chairman of the RCC.

September 22, 1980 - Following border skirmishes, Saddam launches war on Iran that lasts eight years.

March 16, 1988 - Iraqi forces launch chemical attack on Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja, killing about 5,000 people.

August 20, 1988 - A ceasefire is officially implemented in the Iran-Iraq war. The campaign against Kurds continues.

August 2, 1990 - Launches invasion of Kuwait, prompting UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Iraq.

January 17, 1991 - U.S.-led forces start Gulf War with air attacks on Iraq and occupied Kuwait. Hostilities end on Feb 28 with eviction of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

October 15, 1995 - Saddam wins a presidential referendum and is elected unopposed with more than 99 percent of the vote.

October 15, 2002 - Official results show Saddam wins 100 percent of votes in a referendum for a new term in office.

December 7, 2002 - Saddam apologises for invasion of Kuwait but blames the emirate's leadership. Kuwait rejects the apology.

February 2003 - In first interview in more than a decade, Saddam denies Baghdad has any banned weapons or links to al Qaeda.

March 20 - U.S. launches war against Iraq.

April 9 - U.S. forces sweep into the heart of Baghdad as Saddam's three-decade rule crumbles.

July 22 - U.S. military confirms Saddam's two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in gun battle in Mosul.

December 14 - U.S. officials announce capture of Saddam.

October 19, 2005 - Trial opens with Saddam charged with crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men in Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt. He pleads not guilty.

August 21, 2006 - Saddam refuses to enter a plea as the trial starts on charges of war crimes in the "Anfal" campaign that killed tens of thousands of Kurdish villagers in 1988.

November 5, 2006 - A court in Baghdad finds Saddam guilty of crimes against humanity and sentences him to hang for the deaths of 148 Shi'ite men in Dujail.

December 26, 2006 - An Iraqi appeals court confirms the guilty verdict and death sentence against Saddam in the Dujail case.

December 30 - Saddam is hanged.

Comments made by Saddam Hussein

Comments made by Saddam Hussein during his two trials:

"I realize there is pressure on you and I regret that I have to confront one of my sons. But I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for Iraq. I'm not defending myself. But I am defending you." -- December 5, 2005, speaking to judge at his first trial, for killings of 148 Iraqi Shiite Muslims from Dujail.

"I am not afraid of execution." -- December 5, 2005, nearly a year before he was sentenced to death.

"I'm not complaining about the Americans, because I can poke their eyes with my own hands." -- December 21, 2005, after accusing American guards of beating him.

"For 35 years I led you, and you say, 'Eject him?' ... For 35 years, I administered your rights." -- January 29, 2006, to chief judge who ordered Saddam be removed from the courtroom.

"Where is the crime? Where is the crime?" -- March 1, after declaring he ordered trial of 148 Shiites who were eventually executed, because he suspected them of involvement in an assassination attempt.

"I sentence an underage Iraqi to death? I wouldn't do it even if you were to carve my eyes out." -- April 5, in response to accusations some of the Shiites killed were children.

"If you are scared of the interior minister, he doesn't scare my dog." -- April 5, to the chief judge, who asked Saddam not to make political statements about new Iraqi administration.

"I'm Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq. I am above all." -- May 22.

"I ask you being an Iraqi person that if you reach a verdict of death, execution, remember that I am a military man and should be killed by firing squad." -- July 26.

"I am in prison but the knights outside will liberate the country." -- July 26, while arguing with chief judge.

"Not even 1,000 people like you can terrify me." -- July 26, to chief judge.

"Long live the people and death to their enemies!" -- November 5, after being sentenced to death.

"I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands." -- November 7, at his second trial, where was charged with genocide for a military crackdown on Iraqi Kurds.