KUN0102 4 GEN 0234 KUWAIT /KUNA-PYY4 SEC-IRAQ-SADDAM-PROFILE End of tyranny with the arrest of ousted Iraqi president in Tikrit By Mohammed Shams AlDean and Nawal Al-Qalaf KUWAIT, Dec 14 (KUNA) -- With the capture of the ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein today by the U.S. 4th infantry division, the Iraqi and Arab world can now rest easy that tyranny and aggression will no longer rule the war-torn country of Iraq. Captured in a ventilated "spider hole" about two meters underground, the former Iraqi regime era is now over for once and all. The start of the Iraqi dictatorship in Iraq began in February of 1963 when he took part to oust Iraq's Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim and helped in the collapse of the Baath regime in November 1963. After the coup, a new government was formed under the command of Abdulsalam Aref while Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr, a relative of Saddam, became president and chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). On July 30, 1968 Saddam carried out a plot to oust the rival faction (Arab Nationalist officers) in the coup. Among others, minister of Defense Ibrahim Dawood was "sent" to Jordan and Prime Minister Abd al-Razzah Nayif was "sent" to Morocco. The Fall of 1968 was the beginning of purges to remove all non-Baathists from posts within state institutions. Saddam engages in purifying the government and society of potential dissidents. - The higher echelons of the military and the government deemed disloyal were sent into retirement, imprisoned, tortured, or executed. Members of non-Baath political parties and non-Arabs were accused of crimes and executed or deported. In November 1969 President Al-Bakr, Saddam's kinsman, appointed Saddam Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) and Vice-President. He controlled the internal security and intelligence organs and was the driving force behind the regime. On October 15, 1970 Hardan al-Tikriti, Minister of defense, Deputy Premier, and former member of the RCC, was dismissed from all his functions and then assassinated in Kuwait on March 30, 1971. On July 8, 1973 The Chief of Internal Security, Nadhim Kzar, was executed along with 35 others after reports of a coup and conspiracy. Between 1974-1975 War against the Kurds ignited again. Phosphorous shells were used against the Kurds. On 6 March, 1975 Saddam signed Algiers Accord with the Shah of Iran. The Accord defines border with Iran and ends Iranian support for Kurds. In February 1977 Saddam began a mass deportation operations of Iraqi Shi'a, to Iran and confiscated their property. By the early 80's, 200,000 Iraqis were deported to Iran and stripped of nationality and property. In February/March 1977, eight Shi'a dignitaries, five clergy and three lawmen were executed. Mass purges of Shi'a suspected of belonging to the Da'wa Party In October 1978 Ayatollah Khomeini, exiled by the Shah and living in Najaf, was expelled from Iraq. On July 16, 1979 At the age of 42, Saddam forced Al-Bakr to retire and was sworn in as President of the Republic of Iraq. President Bakr officially stepped down. Saddam held the posts of President of the Republic, Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, Secretary-General of the Baath Party Regional Command, Prime Minister, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Saddam granted himself a Staff Field Marshal Army rank. In order to consolidate his power, Saddam embarked on a purge, reminiscent of Stalin, in which party members were accused of being involved in a Syrian plot to place Iraq under Syrian hegemony and remove Iraq's leadership. By the end of the purge, hundreds of top ranking Baathists and army officers were executed, including five members of the RCC. In April of 1980, the Revolutionary Command Council banned the Da'wa Party and membership in its ranks became a capital crime punishable by death. In the same month, a Leading Shi'a cleric Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda were executed On September 22, 1980 five days after Saddam publicly tore up the 1975 Algiers Accord with Iran and denounced "the frequent and blatant Iranian violation of Iraqi sovereignty," the Iraqi Air Force bombed Iranian airfields and Iraqi forces invade Iran. The launch of war against Iran was followed by a number of executions, beginning with former President Bakr who died mysteriously and was widely suspected that Saddam was involved. Later that year, Riyadh Ibrahim, Minister of Health and Shafiq 'Abd al-Jabbar Kamali, ex-RCC member, was also executed. In 1987-1988, Saddam launched the Anfal campaign against the Kurds, in which some 180,000 "disappeared." Some 4,000 villages were razed. In March 1988, The Kurdish town of Halabja was gassed. Over 5,000 people perished and 10,000 suffer injuries.