TIKRIT: The head of the tribe of Saddam Hussein was killed in a bomb attack on Tuesday near the home village of the executed Iraqi dictator, police said.

Sheikh Ali al-Nida and his driver were killed after insurgents planted a bomb in their car which exploded between the town of Tikrit and Saddam's birthplace of Awja, police colonel Thabit al-Azzawi said.

“The bomb was placed in the car when Nida and his guards went to Tikrit early on Wednesday,” said Azzawi. “It exploded while they were on their way back.” Nida's two bodyguards were wounded in the attack, he added.

Nida was the head of the Al-Baijat tribe whose home turf is in and around the province of Salaheddin, of which Tikrit is the capital.

He was a member of a delegation representing Saddam's tribe who collected the ousted leader's body after his execution in December 2006 for burial in Awja.—AFP