Hundreds protest Saddam execution

Samarra: Hundreds of Sunni Arabs protested on Sunday the execution of Saddam Hussain outside a revered Shiite shrine in northern Iraq that was the target of a devestating bomb attack last year.

Men, women and children, carrying Iraqi flags and Saddam portraits, and in some cases guns as well, were seen marching through the streets of Samarra where they gathered outside Al Askari mosque.

There they shouted slogans praising the former dictator, whose hanging on December 30 for crimes against humanity, triggered protests among Sunnis and criticism from international leaders for the way it was conducted.