The Iraqi government has banned all organised visits to the grave of Saddam Hussein, the country's former leader who was executed in 2006.

The government issued the order on Monday after some schools began arranging trips for their pupils to visit the site in Saddam's native village of Al-Awja, outside the northern town of Tikrit, a government statement said.

"The cabinet secretariat has sent instructions to the education ministry and to Salaheddin province and its provincial council banning the organisation of visits to the tomb of the president of the former regime," the statement said.

Commemorations

Thousands of Saddam's Sunni Arab supporters regularly visit the site to commemorate the former leader with poems and songs of praise.

Many also visit to mark the anniversaries of his birth and death.

Buried alongside him are his two sons Uday and Qusay, who were  killed in a US attack in the northern city of Mosul in July 2003.

Born poor in what was then a mud-hut village on April 28, 1937, Saddam rose to Iraq's highest office, attaining a wealthy lifestyle.

He was hanged on December 30, 2006, after an Iraqi court found him guilty of "crimes against humanity" for ordering the execution of 148 Shia Muslims.

The executions followed an assassination attempt against him in 1982 in Dujail, north of the capital, Baghdad.