In February,more than 1,000 officers,veterans, and civilians rallied against military reforms in a protest sponsored by the Communist Party on Defender of the Motherland Day, a Russian national holiday.

VOA: standard.2009.03.20

Back in the late 1950s, when Saddam consecrated his party membership by wielding a pistol in a botched assassination attempt against Iraq's then president, Abdul Karim Qasim, the Baath was favoured by Western powers as a foil to both the powerful Iraqi Communist Party and to the pro-Russian Nasserists.

ECONOMIST: Saddam Hussein

Local media are reporting that an estimated 120, 000 people are expected to take to the streets in Moscow in four separate demonstrations organized by supporters of Russian prime minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin and his opponents from the Communist Party.

FORBES: Anti-Government Forces Face Off With Putin Fans In Moscow