Iraqis stage mass anti-US rally

Supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr staged a mass demonstration in Baghdad on Oct. 18 in protest against plans to extend the US mandate in Iraq. Effigies of US President George W. Bush -- with bandaged head and fractured right arm -- and of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were set ablaze along with several American flags as protesters chanted anti-US slogans. An estimated 50,000 protesters chanted slogans such as "Get out occupier!" "No, No, to America! No, No to the devil!" shouted crowds of men, women and children as they walked the two mile route through the dusty streets of Sadr City to the square. Iraqi and US negotiators drafted the deal after months of talks but it still needs approval from Iraq's government. Under the agreement US troops would withdraw by 2011, and Iraq would have the right to prosecute Americans who commit crimes while off-duty. The UN mandate for US-led coalition forces expires at the end of this year. About 144,000 of the 152,000 foreign troops deployed there are US military personnel. Chanting slogans and waving banners, tens of thousands of Shias, mainly young men, marched on the eastern suburb of Sadr City towards the center of Baghdad. The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says Moqtada al-Sadr's militant opposition to the US presence has strong grassroots support among many Shias - and this was a physical manifestation of that opposition. He says leaders of the 30-strong Sadr bloc in the Iraqi parliament will have expressed that rejection at a meeting of Iraq's Political Council for National Security late on Oct. 17. Al Sadr's message was addressed to Iraqi lawmakers and read by his aide Shaikh Abdul Hadi Al Mohammadawi. "If they tell you that the agreement ends the presence of the occupation, let me tell you that the occupier will retain its bases. And whoever tells you that it gives us sovereignty is a liar," Al Sadr's message said. "We are marching to reject the occupation," said Karim Kadhim, a Shiite from the holy city of Najaf. "Would America like to be occupied by any other country? Would America like its sons to be attacked? Why are they occupying our country?" he asked. "They have been lying for the past five years. They told us they are coming to free us and go. But they are still lying." Um Fatima, a woman taking part in the rally, accused US-led forces of stealing Iraq's riches. "I refuse any status of forces agreement with those who slaughtered my people and allowed ethnic cleansing and sectarian killings," said the 38-year-old, a teacher in Sadr City.