Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, hanged for crimes against humanity on Saturday, has been buried in the village where he was born 69 years ago.

In a sparsely attended ceremony in Awja, in the Tikrit region north of the capital, the former Iraqi leader was laid to rest in a family plot.

His sons Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in 2003, are also buried there.

New video of his execution posted on the internet, shows he exchanged taunts with onlookers from the gallows.

Just hours after his execution, Saddam Hussein’s body was reportedly flown to Awja aboard a US aircraft and handed to clan leaders for burial.

“His past caught up with him and he got what he deserved “ - Munawar, Tehran

“Saddam Hussein has been buried today at 0400 (0100 GMT) in a place that was constructed during his regime in the centre of Awja,” said relative Musa Faraj, quoted by AFP news agency.

The BBC’s John Simpson in Baghdad says the Iraqi government will not be worried that Saddam’s grave may turn into a place of political pilgrimage.

Ministers here think that his practical influence in Iraq has been entirely finished by his execution, our correspondent says.

‘Frightened and terrified’

The former president was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on 5 November over the killings of 148 Shias from the town of Dujail in the 1980s.

Images of Saddam Hussein being taken to the gallows in a Baghdad building his intelligence services once used for executions were broadcast on state TV on Saturday.

Iraqis also saw images of their former leader’s body in a white shroud. However the moment of his execution was not shown.

The hanging took place just days after he lost an appeal and hours after he was handed over from US custody.

Saddam Hussein’s execution has closed a dark chapter in Iraq’s history, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said.

The hanging took place just days after he lost an appeal and hours after he was handed over from US custody.

Saddam Hussein’s execution has closed a dark chapter in Iraq’s history, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said.

They felt very proud as they saw their father facing his executioners so bravely - Spokeswoman for Saddam Hussein’s daughters

In a statement, the prime minister said: “Justice, in the name of the people, has carried out the death sentence against the criminal Saddam, who faced his fate like all tyrants, frightened and terrified during a hard day which he did not expect.”

US President George W Bush hailed the execution as “an important milestone” on the road to building an Iraqi democracy, but warned it would not end the deadly violence there.