Uday Hussein, 39, who was killed in a gunfight with US troops on Tuesday, was widely regarded as an important figure in the Iraqi regime and seemed set to succeed his father, Saddam Hussein, before he was shot and badly wounded in 1996.

He had a seat in parliament, ran the country's most popular newspaper Babel and popular Youth TV channel. He also headed Iraq's National Olympic Committee.

Uday, who was tall and bearded, was known as a womaniser.

In 1995, Saddam jailed Uday after he shot an uncle in the leg. The following year, Uday was gunned down and left dying in a Baghdad suburb by unknown assailants.

However, he survived. After several operations, Uday re-emerged and returned to the spotlight.