President Bush slept through the execution of Saddam Hussein in an effort to distance himself from the killing of the Iraqi tyrant whom he once described as “the man who tried to kill my Dad”.

Mr Bush’s decision not to crow about Saddam’s death on television reflected the increasing unpopularity of the war among the American public and the Administration’s concern that the execution should not be seen around the world as an act of vengeance by the United States. The President — whose father was the target of an abortive assassination plot by Iraq in 1993 that might also have killed his mother, Barbara, and wife, Laura — spent the week between Christmas and new year at his ranch in Texas working on plans for a possible troop surge in Iraq.

Aides said that Mr Bush was told of the impending execution before he went to bed before 9pm with instructions not be woken. He prepared a brief statement that was released after Saddam’s death, calling the execution an “important milestone” but cautioning of further trouble ahead. “Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead,” he said. “Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq’s young democracy continues to progress.”

His low-key reaction was in marked contrast to his taunts after Saddam was found hiding in a foxhole in 2003, when he said: “Good riddance. The world is better off without you, Mr Saddam Hussein.”

Mr Bush woke at about 5am on Saturday and had a ten-minute telephone call with Steven Hadley, his National Security Adviser, on world reaction to Saddam’s execution. The President is expected to reveal his plan for a troop surge this month, despite polls showing that only 12 to 18 per cent of Americans support sending more soldiers to Iraq. The plan faces a hostile reception in the newly Democrat-controlled Congress, where even key Republicans have so far refused to endorse a troop increase.

Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday that he did not yet know if he could support a surge, and called on Mr Bush to discuss the plan with Congress before unveiling it. “The Administration needs to identify precisely where the battle lines are — who is it we combat,” he said. “I haven’t seen such lines,” he added.

Mr Lugar voiced concern that an expanded effort to train Iraqi security forces might “lead to Iraqis who are better prepared for civil war against each other”.

John Edwards, a former Senator and a Democratic presidential contender, yesterday denounced calls for more troops in Iraq. In an early sign that the troop surge will play a big part in the 2008 election campaign, he said that Senator John McCain, his Republican rival, was “dead wrong” to call for up to 30,000 more troops, decrying the proposal as the “McCain Doctrine”.

Dan Senor, a former coalition spokesman in Iraq, said that Mr Bush’s plan represented a comeback for the neo-conservatives, who argued originally for the war but have taken a beating because of the setbacks in Iraq. A self- proclaimed neoconservative, he argued that Mr Bush should add more than 30,000 troops to control Baghdad and Anbar province, rather than compromising on a smaller number.

“Whatever troop increase the President goes for is going to be criticised,” he said. “He is going to score no political points by going for a smaller increase.

“If he announced 10,000- 15,000 troops or if he announces 30,000-40,000, those who are against the surge are going to say it’s a disaster and those who are for it are going to welcome it. So go for the number that maximises the chance of success.”

Video images of Saddam with a noose around his neck led US newscasts over the weekend, but television stations did not show the actual hanging. Pictures of his unadorned wooden coffin in the back of a white pickup truck, being driven it to its final resting place, were juxtaposed with the funeral procession of Gerald Ford, the former President.

Some newspapers indulged in gallows humour, however. “Yo, Saddam . . .”, the Philadelphia Daily News joked on Saturday’s cover. “Say Hi to Hitler.”

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