Daughter, backers hold Saddam ceremony in Yemen

SANAA, Feb 7 (Reuters) Saddam Hussein's daughter Raghd and several Yemeni political groups held a cthe Yemeni capital to honour the former Iraqi leader today, 40 days after his execution, in line with Islamic tradition.

''No one can ignore that he was a hero and one of the Arab nation's symbols,'' Raghd told today's gathering of several hundred in a Sanaa hall decorated with pictures of her father.

''He met God with a clean heart and a clear conscience,'' added Raghd, who arrived in the Yemeni capital yesterday for the ceremony, also attended by one of his lawyers.

Saddam was hanged on December 30 for crimes against humanity after US troops invaded his country in 2003 and toppled his Baathist government.

On the day of his execution, a source close Saddam's family said Raghd, who lives in exile in Jordan, had asked that her father be buried in Yemen, which had urged the United States and Iraq against the hanging, saying it would fuel violence in Iraq.

But he was buried in Awja, his home village in northern Iraq near his two sons Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in 2003.

The government had initially indicated Saddam's body might be put in a secret, unmarked grave, fearing it could become a pilgrimage site for Baathist rebels.

Saddam had supporters in several Arab countries including Yemen, which angered Gulf Arab countries and lost huge financial support for perceived backing of Iraq during its 1990-1991 occupation of Kuwait.

REUTERS BDP RAI2238