Ruling Samajwadi Party's 'black day' over Saddam's hanging

Lucknow, Jan 4 (UNI) Ruling Samajwadi Party sponsored 'protest day' on the execution of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Uttar Pradesh today passed off peacefully with reports of minor clashes in some parts.

Reports of violence were received from Agra, Unnao, Etah and Sitapur districts.

In Agra, demonstrators pelted stone on a tourist bus, which was on its way to Taj Mahal, while in Unnao, Etah and Sitapur minor clashes occurred over closure of markets.

State home department sources said the demonstration was by and large peaceful.

Meanwhile, SP leader and Lok Sabha member Beni Prasad Verma -- claiming the protest a great success -- said it was a tribute to ''great leader Saddam Hussein.'' Reacting to violence at some places, he said it was a ploy by the opposition parties to defame the state government.

''The protest was to condole the death of Saddam and oppose the anarchy of US president George Bush,'' he commented.

Train services were particularly affected in Lucknow and Allahabad, when protestors squatted on tracks. Reports of disruption of trains were received from Etawah, Varanasi, Mainpuri and other places.

SP activists shouted anti-US and anti-Bush slogans, protesting the ''illegal hanging'' of Saddam. They also burnt the US president in effigy.

Meanwhile, in the state capital, SP workers brought out a protest march, which culminated at Hazratganj. The SP leaders held the US responsible for the hanging and even blamed the UPA government at the centre for not raising its voice against the ''US move.'' The 69-year-old deposed Iraqi leader was executed on December 30.

Earlier on November 5, a US-sponsored court in Baghdad had sentenced Saddam to death by hanging after being found guilty of crimes against humanity for his role in the killing of 148 Shi'ite villagers in Dujail province, following an assassination attempt on his life in 1982.

UNI