Fast Facts: Saddam Hussein

The following is a fact sheet on former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein:

BIRTH:
Born on April 27, 1937, in Tikrit, Iraq

WIVES:
Sajida Khairallah Telfah, who was also his cousin. Saddam's daughter Raghad says her father also married a woman from a prominent Iraqi family, Samira Shahbandar, who was his former mistress.

CHILDREN:
— By his first wife, two sons, Qusai (ku-SAY') and Odai (oh-DAY'), killed July 22, 2003 by U-S troops.

— Also by his first wife, three daughters: Raghad (RAH'-hahd) Saddam Hussein, Rana (RAH'-nah) Hussein and Hala Hussein.

— Two of Saddam's daughters were married to cousins of their father. Raghad married Hussein Kamal, and Rana married Saddam Kamel. In 1995, Saddam Hussein was angered when his sons-in-law and their wives defected to Jordan. They later returned to Iraq, believing they had been pardoned, but within 72 hours Saddam Hussein had both his sons-in-law killed. Raghdad, Rana, and their children were given sanctuary in Jordan in July of 2003.

— It is rumored that Saddam had a son, Ali, by his second wife. But Saddam's daughter Raghad denies this, saying those spreading the rumor mistake her own son, also named Ali, to be her father's.

TIMELINE:

1937 — Born in village of Uja near desert town of Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

1957 — Joins underground Baath Socialist Party.

1958 — Arrested for killing his brother-in-law, a communist; spends six months in prison.

Oct. 7, 1959 — On Baath assassination team that ambushes Iraqi strongman Gen. Abdel-Karim Kassem in Baghdad, wounding him. Saddam, wounded in leg, flees the country.

Feb. 8, 1963 — Returns from Egypt after Baath takes part in coup that overthrows and kills Kassem. Baath ousted by military in November.

July 17, 1968 — Baathists and army officers overthrow regime.

July 30, 1968 — Takes charge of internal security after Baath ousts erstwhile allies and authority passes to Revolutionary Command Council under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam's cousin.

July 16, 1979 — Takes over as president from al-Bakr, launches purge of Baath.

Sept. 22, 1980 — Sends forces into Iran; war last eight years.

March 28, 1988 — Uses chemical weapons against Kurdish town of Halabja, killing estimated 5,000 civilians.

Aug. 2, 1990 — Invades Kuwait.

Jan. 17, 1991 — Attacked by U.S.-led coalition; Kuwait liberated in a month.

March 1991 — Crushes Shiite revolt in south and Kurd revolt in north.

April 17, 1991 — Complying with U.N. Resolution 687, starts providing information on weapons of mass destruction, but accused of cheating.

Feb. 20, 1996 — Orders killing of two sons-in-law who in 1995 defected to Jordan and had just returned to Baghdad after receiving guarantees of safety.

Dec. 16, 1998 — U.N. weapons inspectors withdrawn from Iraq. Hours later, four days of U.S.-British air and missile strikes begin as punishment for lack of cooperation.

Nov. 8, 2002 — Threatened with "serious consequences" if he does not disarm in U.N. Security Council resolution.

Nov. 27, 2002 — Allows U.N. experts to begin work in Iraq for first time since 1998.

Dec. 7, 2002 — Delivers to United Nations declaration denying Iraq has weapons of mass destruction; later, United States says declaration is untruthful and United Nations says it is incomplete.

March 1, 2003 — United Arab Emirates, at an Arab League summit, becomes first Arab nation to propose publicly that Saddam step down.

March 7, 2003 — United States, Britain and Spain propose ordering Saddam to give up banned weapons by March 17 or face war; other nations led by France on polarized U.N. Security Council oppose any new resolution that would authorize military action.

March 17, 2003 — United States, Britain and Spain declare time for diplomacy over, withdraw proposed resolution. President Bush gives Saddam 48 hours to leave Iraq.

March 18, 2003 — Iraq's leadership rejects Bush's ultimatum.

March 20, 2003 — U.S. forces open war with military strike on Dora Farms, a target south of Baghdad where Saddam and his sons are said to be. Saddam appears on Iraqi television later in the day.

April 4, 2003 — Iraqi television shows video of Saddam walking in Baghdad.

April 7, 2003 — U.S. warplanes bomb a section of the Mansour district in Baghdad where Saddam and his sons were said to be meeting.

April 9, 2003 — Jubilant crowds greet U.S. troops in Baghdad, go on looting rampages, topple 40-foot statue of Saddam.

July 22, 2003 — Saddam's sons, Qusai and Odai, killed in gunbattle with U.S. troops.

July 31, 2003 — Two of Saddam's daughters, Raghad and Rana, and their nine children are given asylum in Jordan.

Nov. 16, 2003 — The last of nine tapes attributed to Saddam since his ouster is released. It tells Iraqis to step up their resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.

Dec. 13, 2003 — U.S. troops capture Saddam outside Tikrit.

June 30, 2004 — Saddam is transferred to Iraqi legal custody.

July 1, 2004 — Saddam is arraigned before a judge and defiantly rejects charges of war crimes and genocide.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.