Suspected Saddam Hussein deputy Izzat Douri's body handed to Iraq government

The Kata'ib Hezbollah parliamentary group has handed over the body of a person suspected of being Saddam Hussein's deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri to the Iraq government for further testing on Monday 20 April.

Douri is one of the most senior officials of the Saddam regime still at large and one of Iraq's most wanted men. He was believed to have joined the the Islamic State (Isis) militant group in 2014.

"Today [20 April], we handed over the body of the criminal Izzat al-Douri to the Iraqi government [after confirming his identity with] tests and also testimony from those who previously met him," a Kata'ib Hezbollah spokesman Jaafar al-Husseini told journalists, reported AFP News.

Husseini said Douri was killed by pro-government forces on Friday 17 April near the town of Al-Alam in north Baghdad.

The body of the 72-year-old was delivered in a heavily armed convoy of vehicles in central Baghdad.

A DNA testing will be conducted over the next few days to determine if the body really belongs to Douri, said a health ministry official who confirmed receiving the body.

The government might also use a blood sample from a relative or attempt on identifying Douri using the body's physical features.

Kata'ib Hezbollah has been fighting alongside the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) against the IS militant group.

A leader from the Kata'ib Hezbollah forces in Al-Alam, Omar Abdullah al-Jbara, had earlier said that local fighters and police have clashed with a group of men on Friday 17 April, killing 12 people, including a man who resembles Douri.