Saddam aides to buried near him shortly

TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan 15 (Reuters) Saddam Hussein's two aides hanged today will be buried overnight near the former president, local officials in his home city of Tikrit said.

Abdullah Jubara, deputy governor of Iraq's Salahaddin province, said the bodies of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother, and former judge Awad Hamed al-Bander were handed to local officials after being flown in to a US military base.

Local officials said they expect them to be buried close to the hall in Awja, near Tikrit, which has become Saddam's mausoleum.

REUTERS AB RAI2112