BAGHDAD (AP) — Saddam Hussein’s trusted personal secretary, once No. 4 on the U.S. most wanted list in Iraq, was executed by hanging today, the Iraqi Justice Ministry said.

Abed Hamid Hmoud was the latest in a series of former senior regime officials who have been executed by Iraq’s new rulers since the toppling of Saddam during a U.S.-led invasion nine years ago. His body was to be handed over to his family later today, officials said.

Hmoud, a distant cousin of Saddam, was captured by U.S. forces in June 2003, three months after the invasion. At the time, he was No. 4 on the list of wanted regime officials, after only Saddam and sons Qusai and Odai. He was known as the ace of diamonds on the U.S. deck of cards that ranked leaders of Saddam’s government.

Hmoud, in his mid-50s, was executed for persecuting members of the Shiite opposition and religious parties that were banned under Saddam, a court official said. Hmoud had also been among 15 highprofile defendants tried for their role in the brutal crushing of a Shiite uprising after the 1991 Gulf War.