Head of Saddam tribe dies in blast

The head of Saddam Hussein's tribe was killed by a bomb planted on his vehicle north of Baghdad yesterday, police said.

The blast killed Sheikh Ali al-Neda as he traveled along a highway after leaving his home in the late Iraqi president's hometown of Awja.

It was Neda, a member of Iraq's minority Sunni Arab sect, who took possession of Saddam's body for burial after the Iraqi leader was executed in December 2006 for crimes against humanity. Gunmen shot dead Neda's brother in 2006.