AWJA, Iraq (AFP) - Relatives grieved for Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s sons, Uday and Qusay, and 14-year-old grandson Mustapha, in a somber funeral ceremony at the cemetery of Awja, the home village of the once mighty leader of Iraq (news - web sites), now on the run.
Members of Saddam's tribe, who enjoyed the fruits of his brutal 24-year reign over the country, paid their farewells to the brothers, the 'enfants terribles' of the regime. Their bodies were buried beneath a brown dirt mound covered with a red, white and black Iraqi flag.
A yellow headstone rested at the head of the unmarked grave, which could be mistaken for that of a pauper's were it not for the majestic mausoleum built for Saddam's mother, Subha Tulfah, which overlooks them.
Between 20 and 35 men wept and prayed by the grave, a symbol of this region's long dominance over the country, now suddenly vanished with the US army's toppling of hometown hero Saddam, born in a mudhut in this tiny village near the central town of Tikrit.
Resident Mohammed Ali paid tribute to the men and expressed regret over their humble end.
"Maybe later they will build a mausoleum for them," he said, as cars stopped and more people came to pray.
The bodies arrived at the cemetery in two ambulances, the first carrying Uday and Qusay, the second with Qusay's son Mustapha. All three were killed in a pitched battle with US troops on July 22 in the northern city of Mosul.
"Even after their death, they are together," said teacher Felah al-Shammari, 34, about the two siblings and sometimes rivals for their father's affection: Uday, the hothead, who would give way to fearful rages, and calculating and pensive Qusay.
"American soldiers watched the ceremony, there were 10 here and 10 there," said Shammari, overlooking the anonymous burial plot next to a palm tree.
But even with the presence of soldiers, kitted in flak jackets with M-16s slung over the backs, everyone cried, Shammari said.
During the ceremony, only 50 people paid their respects as soldiers barred people from the entrance.
"The Americans searched everyone," Shammari said.
But mourners pressed their bodies against the gates of the cemetery, wishing to say goodbye to Tikrit's royalty.
Darham Abed Muslet, an Awja resident, also groused about the Americans.
"If we had been warned ahead of time, all of Tikrit would have been there," he said, bemoaning the pair's fate in not getting the pomp and pageantry he feels they deserved.
He fumed at the fact the US military filmed the bodies as they were put in the ground.
"You are going to see what we do to the Americans," a crowd shouted.
"We are all with Uday and Qusay."
The US-led coalition transported the bodies to Tikrit, 175 kilometers (110 miles) north of Baghdad, by helicopter at 9:30 am (0530 GMT), said Thawrah Abed Bakr, the regional director of the Red Crescent Society.
"I took the members of their tribe and uncles to the (Tikrit) airbase. I received three metal coffins and I took the papers," she said.
"We took them to the cemetery's mosque. We prayed and we buried them in the family grave. Everything was finished by 12:30 pm (0830 GMT). I had been told to do it secretly by the family and the tribe."
Karim Suleiman al-Majid, an uncle, and tribal chieftains of Saddam's family, Mohammed al-Nada and Ali al-Nada, attended the funeral, she added, describing herself as the link between Saddam's family and the coalition forces.
The burial looked to close the final chapter in the saga that saw many Iraqis react with a mixture of skepticism, suspicion, and, of course, relief to the news of the men's deaths.
Iraqis, deeply suspicious of US motives, only accepted the deaths when the coalition allowed journalists to film and photograph the corpses three days after they went down guns blazing against US soldiers.
Even then, it took the delicate touch of surgeons, working with putty and make-up, to restore the mutilated corpses to a semblance of the two men who went on the run after the April 9 fall of Baghdad.