Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated on Sunday in support of ousted President Saddam Hussein in the town of Baquba, north-east of Baghdad, witnesses said.
Masked gunmen led the protesters marching through the mixed Sunni-Shia town chanting against Iraq's new Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. They shouted: "We sacrifice our souls and blood for you, Saddam" and "No, no to Allawi".
The demonstrators brandished portraits of Saddam and condemned moves by Allawi's interim government to put the deposed dictator on trial for crimes against his people.
"Saddam will remain the symbol of Iraq and the Arab nation," one banner read. "We condemn the staged trial of President Saddam," read another.
Saddam, who was captured by US troops in December, appeared before an Iraqi judge on July 1 at the start of proceedings that could lead to formal indictments for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
A handful of anti-Saddam demonstrators gathered in a central Baghdad square on Sunday to burn his effigy and call for his execution. They unfurled a banner that read: "Defending Saddam is defending brutality and crime."
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