Saddam's body flown to hometown-lawyer says

DUBAI, Dec 30 (Reuters) The body of Saddam Hussein was flown on board a US plane to his family hometown of Tikrit today after it was handed over to tribal leaders for burial, a defence lawyer said.

Lebanese lawyer Bushra al-Khalil told Reuters the body of the former leader who was hanged at dawn for crimes against humanity was now in Tikrit.

A senior Iraqi government source confirmed to Reuters that Saddam's body was being given to the head of his Albu Nasir tribe and would be taken to his native Salahaddin province for burial.

Khalil said Saddam's daughter Raghd, in exile in Jordan, was in contact with her family's tribal leaders on a safe burial location either in the family cemetery in Awja, a village near Tikrit, or in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad.

The burial could take place as early as tomorrow, Khalil said.

Raghd had earlier asked for her father's body to be flown to Yemen for a temporary burial there until it can be transferred back to Iraq for a proper family ceremony.

US troops are on alert for trouble from insurgents among Saddam's Sunni minority.

Reuters DH VP0135