Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who is holding a referendum on his
presidency on Sunday (15/10) has ruled Iraq for 17 years. The
58-year-old Saddam joined the Iraqi Ba'th Party in 1957, and two
years later, fled to Cairo as a poltical refugee after
participating in an attempt to assassinate President Abdul Karim
Qasim. He returned to Iraq in 1963 when the Iraqi Ba'th Party came
to power. The Ba'th Party was ousted by the Nasserites, and Saddam
was arrested in 1964 after participat