People in the Azamiyah district in the Iraqi capital have always supported Saddam Hussein, but it?s their teenagers? coffins, not the humiliating capture of their leader, that?s fuelling anti-American rage.

Alaa Naimi, whose 19-year-old son Othman was shot in a confrontation with US troops as pro-Saddam demonstrations swept the area after news of the ousted Iraqi president?s capture, said the behaviour of Iraq?s US occupiers had made him their enemy, more than loyalty to Saddam.

?Saddam is just a name...Tomorrow 25 million Saddams will emerge to bring hell to the Americans,? said Alaa, who found his son in a mortuary two days after the protests. Residents say he bled to death on a street closed off by US troops.

?My son Othman?s death will make us more determined to drive out the Americans...I hope they will not find peace in our country.?

Protestors say the Americans opened fire unprovoked. The US military has declined to comment.

Salah Mashhadani, 45, talks proudly of his son Osama, 16, who was fatally shot in the chest during clashes with US troops as the protests raged. ?They (US troops) saw the emotions and acted with arrogance and cowardice and opened fire on the youngsters,? said Mashhadani recalling how Osama, a high school student, died along with three other youths.

Residents of the area are predominantly Sunni Muslims, the sect from which Saddam drew his ruling clique and which now sees its future threatened by an Iraqi Shi?ite majority whose political leaders work with the US administration of Iraq.