Paraded in a glass coffin and flanked by jostling civilians, members of the armed forces and the media scrum, the former right-hand man of Saddam Hussein was handed over to the authorities today. <br />Iraqi officials said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri had died in fighting with government troops in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, on Friday. <br />Today, his body was returned to Baghdad and delivered to the Ministry of Health as crowds gathered to get a closer look at the 'King of Clubs'. <br /> <br />A glass coffin with transparent panels carrying the body of Al-Douri - with his bright orange beard - was transferred from a van into a government vehicle. The event was broadcast live on state television in Iraq. <br />Al-Douri, 72, headed the Naqshbandi Order insurgent group, an important faction behind the recent rise of ISIS. <br />He was one of Saddam's most trusted henchmen, helping to lead his 1968 bloodless coup. Both Al-Douri and Saddam came from the same Tikriti tribal background. <br />His daughter was briefly married to Saddam's elder son, Uday, who - together with his brother Qusay - was killed by US forces in Mosul in July 2003. <br /> <br /> <br />He was then deputy to Saddam when he was deposed following the invasion of Iraq in 2003. <br />Following the execution of Saddam Hussein on 30 December, 2006, Al-Douri was confirmed as the new leader of the banned Ba'ath Party. <br /> <br />Al-Douri was deemed the most high-profile official of Saddam's Ba'ath Party to evade capture after the invasion. <br />He was ranked sixth on the US military's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis after offensive to overthrow Saddam and had a $10m bounty on his head. <br />He was the King of Clubs in the infamous pack of cards the US issued of wanted members of Saddam's regime after its collapse. <br />His dead body was pictured on social media on Friday with his teeth missing, an unkempt orange beard and a bloody head wound. <br />Salahuddin governor Raed al-Jabouri said soldiers and allied Shia militiamen killed him in an operation east of Tikrit - a city that was recaptured by the government two weeks ago. <br />He said: 'This is a major victory for those involved in the operation. He is considered a mastermind for this terrorist group. <br />'For sure this will have an impact on them...there will be a break among them.' <br />ISIS currently controls a swath of land slightly larger than the UK, from Aleppo to central Iraq.
