Thousands of Iraqis blocked a highway in western Anbar province on Friday to protest against a campaign to arrest former military officers and members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party.
In neighbouring Salahuddin province, demonstrators took to the streets to support a symbolic move by the provincial council to declare the area autonomous, partly in protest of the Baathist round-up that has angered minority Sunnis across Iraq.
Some Iraqi officials said the arrests of scores of ex-Baathist former army officers this week were triggered by a specific plot against the government, while others said it was a precautionary move before the US troop withdrawal.
"We are determined to get our message across to the central government. Our demand is the release of innocent detainees," said Ramadi farmer Mohammed al-Dulaimi, 45, one of some 3,000 protesters who blocked the highway linking Anbar with Jordan and Syria.Thousands demonstrated in towns and cities across Salahuddin province, including Samarra, Shirqat and Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.
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