Saddam Hussein being captured by U.S. forces. Photo: Wikipedia.

Moments before being executed, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was sure to get in one last anti-Israel and anti-American curse, his executioner revealed in an interview with AFP.

“Death to America! Death to Israel! Long live Palestine! Death to the Persian magi!,” Hussein is reported to have said as a judge read a list of indictments shortly before the tyrant was escorted to the room in which he was hung.

The revelation was made by Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s former national security adviser, who oversaw the execution. The interview was timed to coincide with the 7th anniversary of Hussein’s execution which took place on December 30th 2006.

In recounting more deatils, al-Rubaie said that Hussein remained stoic until his death. “A criminal? True. A killer? True. A butcher? True. But he was strong until the end,” he said. “I didn’t hear any regret from him, I didn’t hear any request for mercy from God from him, or request for pardon.”

Despite his brutal repressive rule of over twenty years, AFP said that the Arab leader is still admired by some.

Saddam is “held in high regard by some Arabs for his 1980-88 war with Iran, his confrontations with the United States, his strikes against Israel, and his composure during his execution,” the news wire reported.

Hussein ruled Iraq until the 2003 U.S. led invasion of the country. He was found by U.S. forced hiding in a hole on a farm.