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Protesters rally against US-Iraqi pact
Tens of thousands of followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rallied in Baghdad in a mass public show of opposition to a US-Iraqi security pact that would extend the presence of US forces in Iraq.
Tens of thousands of followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rallied on Sarurday in Baghdad in a mass public show of opposition to a US-Iraqi security pact that would extend the presence of US forces in Iraq.
The march came as US and Iraqi leaders face a December 31 deadline to reach agreement on the deal, which would replace an expiring UN mandate authorising the US-led forces in Iraq.
The crowds of mostly young men led by turbaned clerics waved Iraqi flags and chanted slogans including "no, no to the agreement" and "yes to Iraq" marched from the main Shiite district of Sadr City to the more central Mustansiriyah Square in eastern Baghdad.
"No, No to America," shouted one man, wearing a white Islamic robe as he sat in a wheelchair and clutched a poster of the Iraqi flag. "We prefer death to giving concessions," he said.
Security was tight, with Iraqi security forces manning checkpoints on side streets and snipers on rooftops. Iraqi Humvees controlled all the roads leading to the square. Giant Iraqi flags covered nearby buildings.
One banner in English said, "We refuse the existence of the US in Iraq."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and the Bush administration have hammered out a draft agreement after months of bitter negotiations.
But al-Maliki has said he wants Iraqi parliament to sign off on the deal and Iraq's pre-eminent cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has said any accord must have national consensus.
The Shiite leader could be politically isolated if he tries to win parliament's backing in the face of widespread opposition.
