Prisoners clash with guards in Iraq jail

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan 1 (Reuters) Prisoners in a jail in Iraq smashed cell doors, burned furniture and broke cameras during a riot today that began when visitors told inmates that Saddam Hussein had been executed.

At least seven guards and three inmates were injured before Iraqi police and army ended the fighting.

The clashes in Padush prison in northern Iraq broke out during visiting hours as inmates reacted to news of Saddam execution, a witness in the prison said.

''Visitors brought the news of Saddam's execution and this ignited the unrest,'' the witness told Reuters.

Images of Saddam being taunted by Shi'ite officials during his hanging on Saturday have outraged Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs, who have expressed anger at the Shi'ite-dominated government.

Iraq's overcrowded prisons hold many Sunni Arabs suspected of being Saddam supporters and insurgents. Sunnis complain of being victimised by Shi'ite-dominated security forces.

The unrest took place in a wing housing around 300 inmates, who attacked guards with sticks and batons. Police and army from the nearby city of Mosul were sent in and witnesses reported hearing gunbattles inside the prison.

Prison director Ali Mahmud said no inmates escaped, though some had tried to get away in the chaos. Mahmud said seven guards and three inmates were injured, but witnesses said one visitor had died in the clashes.

The family of one man in the region who has been in prison for 15 years said he had escaped. Mahmud said all inmates were accounted for.

The United Nations has voiced disquiet over the conditions of Iraq's prisons, and US forces have uncovered clandestine prisons were Sunni inmates have been held and tortured.

Reuters DH VP0118