Iraqi High Criminal Court sentenced Taha Yassin Ramadan, vice president of the ousted leader Saddam Hussin, to death by hanging for crimes against humanity for his role in the Dujail case.

Judge Ali al-Kahachi, who replaced Chief Judge Raouf Rashid Abdul Rahman, sentenced Ramadan to death for his role in the killing of 148 Shiite men in the northern Iraqi town of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt against Saddam.

"In the name of the people the court decided to sentence the convicted, Taha Yassin Ramadan, to death by hanging for committing the crime of willful killing as a crime against humanity," Kahachi said.

"I swear to God I am innocent, and let God take revenge against everyone who rendered me injustice," Ramadan replied.

Last November, Ramadan was sentenced to life in the Dujail case,in which Saddam, his half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were hanged.

An appeals court recommended that Ramadan receive the death penalty and had referred the case back to the trial court for a final decision.

The chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman who sentenced Ramadan for life rejected the recommendation saying he was satisfied with his verdict.