(CNN) -- Iraq has executed a high-ranking aide to the late ruler Saddam Hussein, a government spokesman said Thursday. The Justice Ministry carried out the execution of Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, who was Hussein's personal secretary, national security adviser and senior bodyguard, spokesman Ali a-Dabbagh said. Al-Tikriti was the "ace of diamonds" in the U.S. military's card deck of 55 most-wanted Iraqis. He was No. 4 on the list, behind Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay. He and members of Hussein's special security forces were captured in a 2003 raid by U.S. Special Operations Forces near the north-central Iraq town of Tikrit. The Iraqi High Tribunal had sentenced al-Tikriti to death for genocide and crimes against humanity. The 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime. Hussein was hanged in December 2006 after being found guilty of crimes against humanity in the killings of Shiite villagers in 1982.
Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti was Saddam Hussein's national security adviser . Al-Tikriti was the regime's most wanted official next to Hussein and his sons . He had been sentenced to death for genocide and crimes against humanity .