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Add an EventSaddam execution anniversary marked
Women and children crowd around Saddam's flower-covered tomb in a hall attached to a mosque [AFP]
Black-painted graffiti lauding Saddam Hussein has appeared overnight in his home town of Tikrit where small groups of mourners turned out at his grave on Sunday, the first anniversary of the former Iraqi leader's execution.
Saddam was hanged for "crimes against humanity" in a rushed execution criticised by the international community. It spurred anger among his fellow Sunni Arabs when images emerged on the internet of Shi'a officials taunting him on the gallows.
Floral tribute
"There is no life without the sun and no dignity without Saddam," read one slogan in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. "Paradise for the hero Saddam," read another.
The graffiti appeared on buildings including the town's police station and its agriculture and electricity directorates.
In Awja, a village near Tikrit, Reuters Television filmed men, women and children crowding around his flower-covered tomb in a hall attached to a mosque.
Read MoreHis supporters are expected to gather at his power base in the city of Tikrit, and at his grave nearby.
Saddam was hanged after being convicted of the killings of nearly 150 Shia Muslims in Dujail in the 1980s.
He was taunted by his executioners shortly before his death, conduct which embarrassed the Iraqi government.
Scenes from the execution were captured on mobile telephones and quickly distributed around the world, prompting US President George W Bush, among others, to criticise the way the death sentence was carried out.
The killing of the 69-year-old Sunni leader worsened the rift with Shia groups in Iraq.
Iraqi officials conceded that some supporters would visit the grave where Saddam is buried next to his sons Uday and Qusay, who died in a gun battle with US forces in 2003.
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