BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Gunfire and skirmishes broke out across Iraq following Sunday's guilty verdict and death sentence in the Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein.
An Iraqi tribunal court sentenced the former dictator to death by hanging for crimes against humanity. He was convicted of ordering the executions of 148 people in Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt against him.
More than 1,000 Sunnis marched through the streets of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, shouting, "We will avenge you Saddam," Sky News said.
In a predominantly Sunni area of northern Baghdad, police reportedly were battling machine gun fire.
Clashes also were reported between police and gunmen in Baghdad's Azamiyah district, another Sunni stronghold, Sky News said. Police also reported at least seven mortar shells hit the ground around the Abu Hanifa mosque, the holiest Sunni shrine in the capital.
In Baghdad's heavily Shiite Sadr City, traffic clogged the roads and people burned effigies of Saddam, Sky News said.
No casualties had been reported.
