TELEVISION footage showing the body of Saddam Hussein following his execution in Baghdad at 3am UK time has been released by the Iraqi Government.

The former dictator was filmed lying with his head to one side, wrapped in a white cloth, still wearing his black overcoat.

Witnesses earlier said the body was driven away from the gallows in an ambulance towards a helicopter.

It is expected to be handed over to Saddam's family.

His hanging was timed to take place before the sun rose on Eid-ul-Adha, one of the two most important festivals in the Muslim calendar marking the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Iraqi national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, who witnessed the hanging, said: ''We wanted him to be executed on a special day.'' On Tuesday, a court rejected Saddam's appeal against his death sentence, prompting his defence lawyers to condemn the decision and call on Arab governments and the United Nations to intervene to stop the execution.

Their pleas were in vain and Saddam, resigned to his fate, vowed on Wednesday to go the gallows a ''true martyr''.