MEMBERS of Gwent's Moslem community (pictured) chanted as they held a religious procession through Newport yesterday.

The procession is an annual event which marks the massacre and martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson, Imam Hussain, his family and many loyal supporters, including women and children at a place called Kerbala in Iraq.

Hundreds of people marched from the Stow Hill mosque through Victoria Place down Hill Street, Commercial Street, and Westgate Square, before returning to the mosque.

Organisers were concerned that onlookers might have wrongly believed that they were chanting the name of the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Police said the processions passed peacefully with most people being receptive to the religious basis of the event.