Hundreds of people took unlit candles and flowers to Saddam Hussein's tomb in Ouja today to mark what would have been his 70th birthday.

US President George Bush said the chaotic execution of Saddam Hussein looked like “kind of a revenge killing” and showed that the Iraqi government “has still got some maturation to do".

The half-brother of Saddam Hussein and the former head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court were hanged before dawn today, two weeks and two days after the former dictator was executed in a disturbing scene that drew worldwide criticism.

Hours before Saddam Hussein’s execution, the ousted Iraqi leader asked his lawyers not to appeal for his life and accused the United States and Iran of collaborating to hang him, according to a copy of his will.

A 12-year-old boy has died by hanging himself from the ceiling of his house in Turkey, a hospital said today, as family members reportedly said the boy was copying the execution of Saddam Hussein.

Support for Saddam Hussein across the Arab world has grown since his execution, galvanising anger against Iraq’s Shiite-led government, which the United States has hoped the region would support.

Saddam Hussein’s Anfal trial, for the killing of 180,000 Kurds in the 1980s, resumed in Baghdad today with the late dictator’s seat empty, nine days after he went to the gallows.

Two of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants were taken from their cells and told they were going to be hanged on the same day the former Iraqi dictator was executed, their lawyer said.

British Prime minister Tony Blair believes that the way in which former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed was “completely wrong”, Downing Street said today.

Saddam top aide wishes he had been executed with the deposed leader, an Iraqi lawyer said today.

An Ireland-based Iraqi has claimed to have received and sent out the video showing Saddam Hussein's execution.

US President George Bush told the Iraqi prime minister tonight that "it was the right thing to do" to investigate the mobile phone video of Saddam Hussein at his hanging, the White House media spokesman said.

Police today fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who burned the American national flag in the Indian portion of Kashmir, protesting against the hanging of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi authorities have reported the arrests of two guards and an official who supervised Saddam Hussein's hanging and said the guard force was infiltrated by outsiders who taunted the former leader and shot the video showing his body dangling at the end of a rope.

The Bush administration today sent conflicting signals about the taunting and baiting that accompanied Saddam Hussein’s execution as the White House did not join criticism of the former Iraqi president’s hanging and the state department and US military raised questions about it.

An adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki today said the person who made the leaked video of Saddam Hussein’s hanging had been detained.

An Iraqi government official today said that preparations were being made to hang two of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants tomorrow.

Iraq’s prime minister has ordered an investigation into Saddam Hussein’s execution to try to uncover who taunted the former dictator in the last minutes of his life, and who leaked footage taken by camera phone of the hanging.

Sunni Muslims, angered by the execution of Saddam Hussein and the hurried and undignified way his hanging was carried out, have taken to the streets of Iraq in mainly peaceful demonstrations.

The execution of Saddam Hussein will not make the US safer and will only increase the violence in Iraq, the Reverend Jesse Jackson said today.

Executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was buried shortly before sunrise today inside a compound for religious ceremonies in the town of his birth.

A delegation that included the governor of Salahuddin Province and the head of Saddam Hussein’s clan has retrieved his body from Baghdad and taken it for burial near the executed dictator’s hometown, Al-Arabiya satellite television reported tonight.

The execution this morning of former Iraqi leader Saadam Hussein has drawn criticism across the international community.

Iraqis’ right to hang Saddam Hussein "must be respected" Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today.

Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai appeared to criticise the timing of the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein today, but said it was "the work of the Iraqi government'' and would have "no effect'' on Afghanistan.

The EU has today spoken out against the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The Labour Party said today that questions remain over the conduct of Saddam Hussein's trial and execution.

The government of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi today announced a three-day official mourning period and cancelled all celebrations of Eid.

A Vatican spokesman today denounced Saddam Hussein's execution as "tragic'' and said it would not help efforts to bring justice, or to reconcile Iraqi society.

Saddam Hussein "remained fearless, honest, and clear-minded" in his final moments, his legal defence team said today in a statement.

Iran today hailed the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as "enforcer of the most horrendous crimes against humanity", but many Iranians said Saddam should have stood trial for invading Iran and Kuwait before being hanged.

Iraqi television showed what it said was the body of Saddam Hussein after his execution today.

US President George Bush called Saddam Hussein's execution a milestone on Iraq's road to democracy, but warned it would not halt the bloodshed and political discord splitting the country.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed today.

Saddam Hussein will be executed before 6am Saturday Baghdad time (3am Irish Time), a senior Iraqi government official said tonight.

Saddam Hussein will be executed before 6am Saturday Baghdad time (3am Irish Time), a senior Iraqi government official said tonight.

Lawyers for Saddam Hussein tonight asked a US judge in Washington to block his transfer to the custody of Iraqi officials poised to carry out his execution.

Families of British servicemen serving in Iraq expressed fears that troops would become the target of a backlash in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s execution.

Members of Iraq’s parliament and families of Saddam Hussein’s victims will witness the former leader’s execution, planned to take place no later than tomorrow.

Saddam Hussein will be executed by tomorrow, an Iraqi judge said today.

Saddam Hussein will be executed by tomorrow at the latest, an Iraqi judge has said.

Iraq’s prime minister today said those who opposed the execution of Saddam Hussein were insulting the honour of his dead victims.

An Iraqi Justice Ministry official has denied that Saddam Hussein has been handed over to Iraqi custody and remains in US custody.

Saddam Hussein has been handed from US to Iraqi custody and lawyers have been asked to collect his personal effects, news reports say.