Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006 shortly after 0600 local time (0300 UTC). CNN reported that celebrations broke out at the execution location after Saddam was dead, and that people were "dancing around the body." The execution of former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein was the capital punishment imposed for his crimes against humanity following his trial for the killings of 148 Shias in the town of Dujail in 1982. He was also standing trial for the genocide of approximately 180,000 Kurds during the late 1980s, but the execution ended the trial without a sentence. Saddam was executed by hanging.