Clan plans "Saddam library" at burial site

AWJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's extended family plans to found a presidential library and religious school at his burial site in his native village, a family member said on Sunday as mourners thronged to pay their respects.

The former Iraqi president was hanged on Saturday for crimes against humanity. His body was handed over to Sunni Arab tribal leaders from his native Tikrit and buried in the dead of night in a domed, marble-floored hall in the nearby village of Awja.

"We want to turn the place into a religious school and a library to honor Saddam," said Muayed al-Hazaa, a relative who described himself as a cousin of the ousted strongman.

"We want to make this place an appropriate and suitable edifice," he told Reuters by telephone. "This will honor Saddam Hussein."

There had been speculation the Shi'ite-led government might bury Saddam's body in a secret grave for fear the site could become a focal point for Baathist rebels, but after appeals from his Albu Nasir tribe it was handed over to them for burial.

Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay were buried in a family plot in Awja's cemetery after U.S. troops killed them in mid-2003.

In life, the 69-year-old Saddam was noted as a voracious reader, a habit he continued during his three years in a U.S. military prison, where he also wrote poetry and stories.

One biographer recorded that among his favorite reading were the works and life of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.