// Create a new rectangle element
  popup = document.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/svg", "rect");
  // Set any attributes as desired
  popup.setAttribute("x", posx);
  popup.setAttribute("y", posy);
  popup.setAttribute("width",  100);
  popup.setAttribute("height",  200);
  popup.setAttribute("class", "popup");
  popup.setAttribute("onmouseup", "popup_mouseup(evt);");
  popup.setAttribute("onmouseout", "popup_mouseout(evt);");
  // Add to a parent node; document.documentElement should be the root svg element.
  // Acquiring a parent element with document.getElementById() would be safest.
  document.documentElement.appendChild(popup);