ST PAUL - POLICE said they arrested about 100 people Monday following violent protests in conjunction with the Republican party convention.

'About 100 have ben arrested and we are still booking in people', a staff at the Ramsey County jail in St Paul, Minnesota, told AFP.

'Most of them have been held for rioting.'

Several thousand people - veterans, grandmothers, young families and even disgruntled Republicans - marched through the streets of St Paul, calling for the end of the war in Iraq.

Trouble flared when one group split away from the beginning of the march and tussled with police, who fired epper spray on the crowd, including at an AFP photographer. -- AFP