North American Committee Against Zionism and Imperialism
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Body of martyred Iraqi President laid to rest in
family plot in al-‘Awjah, near Tikrit

Excerpt From: Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Sunday, 31
December 2006.  Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad
Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab
Voice.  http://www.freearabvoice.org

Salah ad-Din Province.
Tikrit.

Body of martyred Iraqi President laid to rest in
family plot in al-‘Awjah, near Tikrit, at 4am local
time Sunday amidst massive crowds of mourners.

In a dispatch posted at 9:37am Makkah time Sunday
morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that ‘Ali an-Nida,
the Shaykh of the al-Bu Nasir tribe to which the
martyred Iraqi President Saddam Husayn belonged,
announced that the body of the President was laid to
rest before down on Sunday in the village of
al-‘Awjah, his home town near Tikrit, about 180km
north of Baghdad.

Mafkarat al-Islam reported an-Nida as saying that the
burial took place in a family plot less than 24 hours
after his assassination in a so-called “execution” by
the American-installed Iraqi puppet regime in Baghdad.

In a dispatch posted at 3pm Makkah time Sunday
afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Shaykh
Mahmud al-Hasan, one of the shaykhs of the al-Bu Nasir
tribe, to which martyred Iraqi president Saddam Husayn
belonged, said that the body of the Iraqi President
was kicked and beaten after his death by the puppet
regime officials and their guests who attended the
“execution” in Baghdad on Saturday.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that
in an exclusive interview in Tikrit following the
funeral of the martyred President, al-Hasan said that
the body had been received by the leader of the tribe
‘Ali an-Nida and Muhammad al-Qaysi the puppet
“Governor” of Salah ad-Din Province in the presence of
‘Abd al-Karim al-‘Anazi, a member of the Shi‘i
Alliance political coalition and a national security
adviser to the puppet regime.

Al-Hasan said that the marks of kicks could be seen on
the left cheek of the body of the Iraqi President,
believed to be from a kick by one of those attending
the “execution” show.

Al-Hasan said that the body of the Iraqi President was
laid to rest at 4am local time Sunday morning at a
funeral attended by masses of local people – all of
them supervised, surrounded and cordoned off by
American occupation troops.

A condolence reception has been set up in the town of
al-‘Awjah near Tikrit.  Groups of mourners from
various Iraqi provinces have been coming there to
offer their last respects.

In a dispatch posted at 7:10pm Makkah time Sunday
evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the US
occupation troops and their Iraqi puppet army allies
forced the al-Bu Nasir tribe to bury the body of
martyred President Saddam Husayn under cover of
darkness before the first light of dawn Sunday.

Mafkarat al-Islam reported al-Jazeera.net as saying
that numerous members of the tribe had told them that
the American occupation forces and their Iraqi puppet
allies brought the body of the President to the
village of al-‘Awjah near Tikrit at about 3am local
time.  They demanded at gunpoint that the al-Bu Nasir
bury him immediately.  Family members feared that the
Americans might carry out a threat that had been made
that the body could be handed over to the puppet
regime of Shi‘i sectarian Nuri al-Maliki to be
disposed of.

The Americans also imposed their control over the
whole village, closing its entrances and exits during
the funeral, which was attended by several hundred
people.

The sons and grandson of the Iraqi President – ‘Uday
and Qusay Saddam Husayn and Mustafa who were all
killed in a gun battle with the Americans in ar-Ramadi
in 2003 are also buried in the plot.