Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, has been sentenced to death by a Baghdad court after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.

When the judge announced the sentence, Saddam appeared shaken.

However he soon recovered and shouted: "Allahu Akbar!" [God is greatest] and "Long live the nation!"

Saddam was found guilty by the Iraqi High Tribunal on Sunday for ordering the killing of 178 Shia civilians in the town of Dujail in 1982.

The court said that he and his fellow defendants had ordered the villagers' murder after members of Dawa, a Shia political 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 was president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, when his Sunni-dominated government was deposed by a US-led invasion.

Eleven-month trial

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.