Saddam Hussein returned to court today and urged Iraqis "to forgive, reconcile and shake hands" as sectarian tensions fuelled by his death sentence further undermined US efforts to make a success of Iraq.
Saddam supporters chant slogans in support of the former dictator in Falluja
Saddam was back in court on Tuesday to face charges of genocide against ethnic Kurds, two days after being sentenced to hang for the killing and torture of Shias.
An appeal court will review the sentence and no execution is likely this year. "I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands," Saddam, in relatively subdued mood, told the court.
In the United States, voters were going to the polls in midterm elections seen as a referendum on President Bush's Iraq policy, with the prospect of a shift in direction if Democrats can seize control of Congress from Bush's Republicans.
Mr Bush has hailed Sunday's sentence as a vindication of his removal of Saddam, saying: "The world is better off for it."
But insurgent attacks, sectarian death squads and government paralysis blamed on feuding between rival political parties have left many Americans thinking Iraq is descending into chaos and calling for the withdrawal of the 150,000 US troops.
The Iraqi government had imposed a two-day curfew to coincide with the verdict, keeping millions of people cooped up in their homes and the streets of Baghdad eerily empty.
Residents ventured out today for the first time since Saturday night as a vehicle and pedestrian ban was lifted, and Baghdad international airport reopened.
A leading Sunni political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, said two Sunni mosques had been destroyed by militias in the past two days and it blamed the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for failing to protect them.
Sunnis also complained of a string of mortar attacks on the Adhamiya district of Baghdad since Sunday.
Another Sunni party, the Conference of Iraqi People, said it was "seriously considering" withdrawing from Mr Maliki's unity government over attacks it blamed on Shia militias.
An Interior Ministry source said 10 bodies with gunshot wounds had been found around the capital in the last 24 hours.