A savage crime is remembered

They were speaking at the funeral on Saturday of James Byrd, who was allegedly beaten and then tied behind a pick-up truck and dragged to his death.

The service took place in the Texan town of Jasper, only a few yards from the place where Mr Byrd is thought to have accepted a lift in the pick-up truck last Sunday.

Byrd was decapitated and his body mutilated as he was pulled along for several kilometres.

The men arrested in connection with the attack are suspected white supremacists.

James Byrd's sister, Betty Boatner, is comforted by a mourner

Thousands of mourners from the mainly black congregation of Jasper attended the funeral.

American black civil rights leaders, among them the Reverend Jesse Jackson, stressed the importance of turning James Byrd's murder into a reason for conciliation, using the tragedy to unite black and white Americans against racism.

"Turn a crucifixion into a resurrection," the Rev. Jackson said.

He proposed building a memorial to Mr Byrd, to be "a place for blacks and whites to rally, a tomb that says choose redemption over retaliation."

Black Panthers march

BBC correspondent Bridget Kendall: 'James Byrd's murder has shocked America'

But not everyone was preaching a peaceful message. Outside the church, several self-proclaimed members of the militant Black Panther movement, carrying shotguns, marched past, warily watched by local police.

Their leader, Khallid Muhammad, declared that the racism and hatred of the white man in America was as American as apple and cherry pie, and blacks should respond accordingly.

Black Panther Khallid Mohammad led an armed march

"The black man and black woman must stand up and defend themselves at all costs," Mr Muhammad declared. "We have come to say that it is our God-given right to arm ourselves or harm ourselves."

That drew dismay from several local residents. Congregation member Susan Henderson told assembled reporters that more typical of their peaceful community was the admirable response of James Byrd's family who had all week expressed regret, not vengeance.

America shocked

The BBC Washington correspondent says James Byrd's murder has shocked America, and has re-awakened a debate about whether enough is being done to improve racial tensions, either through a national dialogue on race or through tightened laws against hate and race crimes.

The three white suspects are being held without bail while police decide whether there is enough evidence to warrant a further charge that could lead to the death penalty.

Two of them are tattooed with symbols of Aryan Nation - a white supremacist group - and are suspected of having links to the Ku Klux Klan.

Ku Klux Klan joins condemnation

However, the leader of the local chapter of the KKK, Darryl Flynn, has condemned the murder, saying nothing could be gained from such a senseless tragedy.