ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Former Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, overthrown by Saddam Hussein in a bloodless 1979 palace coup, died Monday, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported. He was 68.
Al-Bakr was president of Iraq for 11 years, earning a reputation for ruthlessness and repression of his political opponents.
A statement by the presidential court in Baghdad said the former field marshal -- a tall, balding man with a military manner -- had been ill for several years.
A state funeral was set for Tuesday morning and Iraqi government offices were ordered closed for a one-week mourning period.
Under his rule, Iraq was known as an uncompromising radical state that ruled out any peaceful settlement with Israel. Al-Bakr sent his troops to fight alongside the Syrians in the 1973 October war against Israel.
He negotiated a political and economic union with Syria in October 1978, but the agreement was thrown out by Hussein less than a year later during the palace coup that toppled al-Bakr.
Although al-Bakr officially resigned because of poor health, Hussein had been the real power during the second half of his 11-year presidency.
Al-Bakr's rise to power began in the army, which he joined at age 20.
Troops under his command took part in the 1958 overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy, earning al-Bakr a place on the ruling military tribunal.
In 1963, al-Bakr became prime minister and organized an exclusively Baathist party government. He later fell from power but returned to lead a Baathist coup in 1968.
Despite his fall from power three years ago, al-Bakr, a Sunni Moslem, remained a respected figure in Iraqi politics and continued to live in Iraq with his wife. He had three children.
