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WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging, a senior U.S. official confirmed on Friday.

"Yes, he has been executed," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hussein was hanged shortly before 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) on Saturday, U.S.-backed Iraqi television station Al Hurra and Arabic satellite channel Arabiya said.

The U.S. official gave no other details and the White House had no immediate comment. President George W. Bush is spending the holiday break at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said the world was now "rid of a brutal dictator."

"Saddam Hussein, found guilty before the world after a free and fair trial, has finally met justice," the Kentucky Republican said in a written statement. "The free people of Iraq must now go forward together to build a unified nation, and leave behind sectarian divisions."

Saddam was found guilty on Nov. 5 in the killing, torture and other crimes against the Shi'ite population of the town of Dujail after Dawa militants tried to assassinate him there in 1982.

An Iraqi appeals court upheld the verdict and death sentence earlier this week.

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