Report: Saddam Burial Set For Sunday

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- According to Arab media reports, Saddam Hussein will be buried Sunday near his hometown of Tikrit.

Related: | Obit

Arab broadcaster Al-Arabiya satellite television said a delegation, including a provincial governor and the head of Saddam's clan, has retrieved the body from Baghdad. They had negotiated with U.S. and Iraqi officials to be able to bury Saddam near Tikrit.

He was born in a village near the Sunni-dominated city, located about 80 miles north of Baghdad.

The report said the clan is gathering at the grand mosque in the village to await the return of Saddam's remains.

He was captured in an underground hideout near the village three years ago after disappearing as American troops advanced on Baghdad.

Saddam Execution Prompts Joy For Some, Sadness For Others

A man whose testimony led to Saddam Hussein's conviction and execution said Saturday that the former Iraqi leader now "is in the garbage of history."

Jawad Abdul-Aziz said he was shown Saddam's body because "everybody wanted to make sure that he was really executed." The man lost his father, three brothers and 22 cousins in the reprisal killings of Shiites that followed a botched assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.

In Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, hundreds of people danced in the streets while others fired guns in the air to celebrate Saddam's death.

But in Saddam's old power base of Tikrit, a cleric said Saddam was a "martyr" and he "died the death of a holy warrior."

Hussein went to the gallows before sunrise Saturday, executed by vengeful countrymen after a quarter-century of remorseless brutality that killed countless thousands and led Iraq into disastrous wars against the United States and Iran.

State-run Iraqiya television initially reported that Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, also were hanged. However, three officials later said only Saddam was executed.

One of them, Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, reportedly said that the other two executions were delayed because officials wanted Saddam "to be executed on a special day."

An announcer for Iraqiya television said "criminal Saddam was hanged to death." The station also played patriotic music and showed images of national monuments and other landmarks. Prior to the execution, state television had broadcast footage of Saddam's regime's atrocities.

Shortly before the execution, Saddam's hat was removed. He refused an offer to have his head covered and said a prayer.

He shouted 'God is great. The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab," before the rope was put around his neck. Before he was executed, he handed a copy of the Quran to a witness.

Video Of What Is Said To Be Saddam's Body Airs On Television

Video footage shows what appears to be the body of Saddam Hussein after his execution.

The short videotape shows guards wearing ski masks placing a noose around the deposed leader's neck moments before his execution.

Saddam appears calm. He appears to be wearing a black overcoat.

The silent video shows the guards wrapping a piece of black cloth around Saddam's neck, as he approaches the gallows. The noose is then placed over his head.

Bush Says Execution Was 'Justice'

President George W. Bush cautioned that the death of Saddam would not quell violence in Iraq.

In a statement issued from his Texas ranch, Bush said Saddam's execution marks the "end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops."

Bush also called Saddam's death "an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain and defend itself."

He also said the execution is a reminder of how far the Iraqi people have come since the end of Saddam's rule. Bush said Saddam's execution is "the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime."

Saddam Defense Team Releases Statement

Saddam Hussein's legal defense team says he was "fearless, honest and clear-minded" in his final moments.

The lawyers based in Amman, Jordan, released a statement said Saddam "fell a martyr." In the aftermath of Saddam's death, the lawyers vow to continue their legal struggle until "all dimensions of this political assassination are revealed."

They also said Saddam "lived honestly, died honestly and maintained his principles."