Twenty years after the fall of the Iraqi regime no one knows where Saddam’s body is
The date of Saddam Hussein's execution and the events leading up to it has been the subject of great debate. He was hanged on 30 December 2006, which coincided with the first day of Eid al-Adha.
Eyewitness accounts have reported that members of the Dawa Party moved Saddam's body to the front of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's house in Green Zone 5 in Baghdad, and there are photos that allegedly back this claim.
Later, notables from the Al-Bunasir clan transferred the body to Al-Awja near Tikrit. Many stories circulated about what al-Maliki had to say after seeing the body.
The 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq has rehashed discussions over the whereabouts of Saddam’s body. In a recent press interview, Saddam’s daughter Raghad reacted to rumours that her father’s body was thrown on the street.
She said: "This is not permissible religiously (as Muslims). It is also morally impermissible to offend symbols in any way. These matters are not subject to discussion, not only in Iraq but in all world countries, Arab and non-Arab alike."
Where is Saddam's grave?
Years after the Islamic State was expelled from Tikrit, a telling scene unfolds that encapsulates the situation in Iraq following the killing of Saddam Hussein, who had ruled the country for decades in the name of the Baath party.
Fighters affiliated with Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq now hold control over Al-Awja, located near Tikrit, including the madafa — the family reception hall where Saddam and his sons, Uday and Qusay, were buried.Both sons were killed by American special forces in Mosul.
The madafa also served as the final resting place for some former regime officials, many of whom fell victim to intentional vandalism after IS was defeated.
In mid-2014, just weeks before IS seized control of the city of Tikrit, a group of members from the Al-Bunasir clan, which Saddam belonged to, clandestinely dug up his grave under the cloak of darkness and relocated his body to an undisclosed location that remains unknown to this day. Local witnesses claim that Saddam's body was "buried in a safe place in Al-Awja."
