Thousands of Iraqis march to demand elections

Thousands of Shi'ite Muslims hit the streets of four Iraqi cities yesterday, calling on the United States to hand over Saddam Hussein to be tried as a war criminal and demanding a bigger say in their political future.

The fresh rallies followed a march through Baghdad on Monday by tens of thousands of people from the majority Shi'ite community demanding direct elections to decide who controls Iraq when the United States hands back power in June.

Many of yesterday's protesters were supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand religious leader who has expressed support for Iraq's most revered Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Mr Sistani and his followers, long persecuted by Saddam, have proven a thorn for the United States by opposing its plans to let regional caucuses appoint a transitional authority to take power at the end of June, instead of letting all Iraqis vote. "We demand elections or we will bury every American here," said one Shi'ite cleric, Sattar Jabbar.

In the southern Shi'ite city of Basra, several thousand protesters demanded Saddam be executed. "We want Saddam dead or alive. We demand Saddam's execution," they chanted.

In Baghdad and the Shi'ite holy cities of Kerbala and Najaf, similar numbers demanded Saddam be declared a war criminal and handed over for trial soon.

The United States declared Saddam a prisoner of war on January 9 following his capture the previous month.

Washington has said his status may be changed further down the line, and that he will eventually be handed over to Iraqi authorities to be tried under a special tribunal set up to account for his murderous rule.