Saddam's Dirty Dozen

April 11 -- Among the 55 members of Saddam Hussein's fallen regime being sought by coalition troops, there is a "dirty dozen" of top leaders who are believed to be responsible for the worst crimes under the dictator's rule.

U.S. military officials have issued coalition troops in the field packs of playing card-sized cards emblazoned with photographs and details of 55 senior Iraqi leaders with instructions to take them dead or alive.

The cards were meant to help coalition forces identify Iraqi leaders, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told reporters at a U.S. Central Command briefing in Qatar today.

"The key list has 55 individuals who may be pursued, killed or captured, and the list does not exclude leaders who may have already been killed or captured," Brooks said. "The intent here is to help the coalition gain information from the Iraqi people so that they also know exactly who it is we seek."

Here are brief portraits of the "dirty dozen" of the Iraqi regime targets who have been identified for likely war crimes prosecution:

Saddam Hussein, president, chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council; launched wars against Iran and Kuwait; oversaw repression of uprising; ordered chemical attacks; destruction of Marsh Arabs and other minorities.

Odai Hussein, Commander of Fedayeen, president of Iraqi Olympic Committee, older of Saddam's sons; personally engaged in acts of torture; oversaw widespread looting of Kuwait; accused of frequent serial rape and murder of young women.

Qusai Hussein, head of Republican Guard and Special Security Organization, younger of Saddam's sons; lead role in repression of uprising, Kurds and Marsh Arabs; initiated and supervised program of prison cleansing resulting in mass executions of prisoners.

Ali Hassan Majid, Saddam's cousin, aka "Chemical Ali," the Iraqi military commander who oversaw attacks that killed as many as 100,000 Kurds including 5,000 at Halabja; military governor of Kuwait.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, vice president, deputy prime minister, Popular Army commander; violations of Geneva IV during Kuwait occupation; repression of uprising (reportedly ordered forces to run tanks over heads of rebels in Najaf); attacks against Kurds and repression of minorities.