context: Although Saddam was a vice-president, Ahmed Hassan Bakr, he was the strongest party in the party. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was the oldest and established, but by 1968, Saddam had the greatest power in the party. In 1979, President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr began to conclude treaties with Syria in which the Ba'ath Party was based, which would have led to unity between the two countries. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad will become the vice-president of that union, but before that, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr resigned on July 16, 1979 and Saddam officially became the new president of Iraq. Shortly after that, he gathered leaders of the Baath Party on July 22, 1979 AD in the Al-Khald Hall in Baghdad. During the meeting he ordered to photograph, Saddam said that he found spies and conspirators within the Baath Party and read the names of those who were secretly associated with Hafez al-Assad. They were described as treason and were taken one by one to face execution by firing squad outside the conference room and in the earshot of those present. [65]
question: When Saddam Hussein took over the presidency of Iraq?
answers.text: July 16, 1979