A Baghdad court has sentenced Saddam Hussein to death after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.

The Iraqi High Tribunal on Sunday found Saddam guilty of ordering the killing of 178 Iraqis in the town of Dujail in 1982.

The court said that Saddam and his fellow defendants had ordered the villagers' murder after members of Shiite Dawa party tried to kill Saddam in Dujail in 1982.

Saddam's sentence will be automatically appealed and reviewed by a panel of appeal judges, who will decide whether or not to allow a retrial.

If the judgement stands, however, Saddam must be executed within 30 days of the appeals panel delivering its verdict, the chief prosecutor has said.

Saddam, 69 said that he wants to be executed by firing squad. However Iraqi law states that he will be executed by hanging.

Saddam's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti, former head of the Iraqi secret police, and Awad Hamed Al-Bander, Saddam's chief judge were also sentenced to death by hanging by the court.

Saddam's eleven-month trial was marked by theatrics by both his defence council and by Saddam and his seven co-defendents.

During the final session Ramsey Clark, the former US attorney general and a member of Saddam's defence team was ejected from the courtroom.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, the former Iraqi vice president was sentenced to life in prison.

The court also sentenced three of Saddam co-defendent to 15 years in prison for their part in the Dujail killing and acquitted one minor Baath party official.

PHOTO CAPTION

Saddam Hussein listens to prosecutors' statements during his trial in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone October 30, 2006. (AFP)