Iraq starts to lift curfew after Saddam verdict

IRAQ: Iraq began to lift a curfew imposed to quell any insurgent backlash against the death sentence passed on Saddam Hussein, amid a wave of jubilation among his former victims and fury among diehard supporters.

Five more American soldiers were killed, the military announced on the eve of mid-term U.S. elections in which discontent over the Iraq war could cost President George W. Bush's Republicans control of Congress.

Mortar rounds slammed into areas around Baghdad's Green Zone, the fortified compound that was once Saddam's palace complex and now houses the courthouse where he was tried.

The prime minister's office said vehicles would be allowed back in the streets of the capital at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Tuesday. Pedestrians were free to move around again immediately.

Curfews mostly kept down violence on Sunday and Monday after the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted Saddam of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging.

But the verdict of a trial U.S. officials hoped would help heal the country has divided Iraqis, being greeted with joy by Shi'ite Muslims, who were oppressed under Saddam, but opposed by the formerly dominant Sunnis.

About 200 Saddam supporters demonstrated on Monday in Falluja, in western Iraq, chanting old Saddam slogans such as "We will give our blood for you." Mosul in northern Iraq also saw pro-Saddam demonstrations, as did Samarra, north of Baghdad.

Baghdad, Tuesday, Reuters