Saddam Hussein's tribe buried the former Iraqi dictator just before dawn on Sunday in his native village of Ouja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq.

Saddam, executed for crimes against humanity, will lie in rest beside his sons Qusay and Uday. Those two, plus a grandson, were killed during a gun battle with U.S. forces in July 2003. Reports indicate few people were present for the burial.

While some celebrated Saddam's death, others despaired that the event changes nothing in chaotic, violent Iraq.

However, there was no signed of a Sunni Arab uprising as some feared, and the usual body count from murders and car-bombings totaled 92 -- not far off the daily average for the Middle Eastern country simmering in a civil war.

In addition, six U.S. soldiers died, bringing the total to 2,998 since the March 2003 invasion.

"He's gone, but our problems continue," Baghdad candy store owner Haider Hamed told The Associated Press.

"We brought problems on ourselves after Saddam because we began fighting Shiite on Sunni and Sunni on Shiite," said the Shiite Muslim, who lost relatives to Saddam's brutal repression.

"Nothing really changes," said Capt. Dave Eastburn. "The militias run everything now, not Saddam."

Edward Peck, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said the execution could actually do more harm than good for the country.

"I don't think this is going to advance America's interests in Iraq at all," said Peck, arguing it could spark further sectarian violence.

The scene

Saddam was hanged before dawn in Baghdad for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims, according to Iraqi state television.

Saddam was dressed in a white shirt and dark overcoat when he was led to the platform by a group of men wearing ski masks to hide their identity.

A piece of dark material was placed around his neck, followed by the noose.

He refused to have a hood placed over his head.

Video showed the former Iraqi dictator being led to the gallows in handcuffs where a noose was put around his neck. However, the footage stopped short of showing his actual execution.

There are various accounts of what Saddam said in his final moments. He was reportedly calm and resigned, but exchanged curses and taunts with some of the spectators. He began reciting the Shadada, a Muslim prayer that says there is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger. He died reciting it.

Millions of Iraqis are believed to have stayed up all night to watch news related to Saddam's execution on TV.

Post-execution video captured by a cell phone showed a man identified as Saddam lying on a stretcher covered in a white shroud. His eyes are closed and there appeared to be bloodstains on his neck and part of the shroud.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the execution closed a dark chapter in Iraq's history. Hesaid in a statement that Saddam was frightened at the time of his death.

"Justice, in the name of the people, has carried out the death sentence against the criminal Saddam, who faced his fate like all tyrants, frightened and terrified during a hard day which he did not expect."

Reaction

In Tikrit, teacher and Sunni Muslim Um Abdullah said: "Saddam will be a hero in our eyes I have five kids and I will teach them to take revenge on Americans."

While authorities slapped a four-day roadblock on Tikrit, gunmen marched in the streets, firing rifles and calling for vengeance.

"The president, the leader, Saddam Hussein is a martyr and God will put him along with other martyrs," said Yahya al-Attawi.

Curtis Doebbler, a member of Saddam's defence team, told CTV Newsnet the U.S. orchestrated the trial and final ruling, and he intends to look into prosecuting those who were involved.

A Iraqi court sentenced Saddam, 69, to death on Nov. 5. He had been tried for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 people. The victims were killed after an attempt to assassinate him in Dujail, northern Iraq. 

Late Friday, a U.S. judge dismissed a last-minute court challenge by Saddam's lawyers, who had argued the execution should be stayed because Saddam also faced a civil lawsuit in Washington.

The judge said the U.S. courts could not interfere with another country's judicial system.

Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were not hanged with Saddam.

With a report from CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer and files from The Associated Press