Cleric Sadr’s followers protest U.S. troops

Tens of thousands of Iraqis marched peacefully through Baghdad on Friday to demand the ouster of U.S. troops from their country in a protest organized by a populist Shiite cleric.

Later Friday night, two anti-government protesters were shot and killed by security forces in separate demonstrations a few kilometers from where the big anti-U.S. rally had taken place, two medical officials and one security official said.

The rally by followers of Muqtada al-Sadr and Iranian-backed militias came amid heightened tensions following a U.S. drone strike earlier this month that killed a top Iranian general in the Iraqi capital, fanning anti-U.S. sentiment.

There were no official estimates of the turnout and organizers gave varying figures, but it clearly fell short of the “million-man” march that had been called for by al-Sadr.

Officials and experts said the rally was the cleric’s attempt to capitalize on brewing anti-American feeling and show he had the upper hand among Iraqis as political elites wrangle over who should be the next prime minister.

Large crowds gathered on the Muslim day of prayer as loudspeakers blasted, “No, no America!” at a central square. Some of al-Sadr’s followers were shrouded in white capes to symbolize the fact that they were ready to die for the cause.

“Hey Trump! We will not allow you to turn Iraq into a battlefield,” read one banner. A child held up a poster reading, “Death to America. Death to Israel.”

Apparently seeking to show control, his supporters did not clash with the heavy security presence or target the separate, anti-government protests in neighboring Tahrir Square, a possibility feared by activists.

In his weekly Friday sermon, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, called on political parties to stop stalling and move the talks forward.

“The formation of the new government is constitutionally long overdue, it is necessary for the various parties concerned to cooperate,” al-Sistani said in a sermon delivered via a representative,“it is an important step toward resolving the current crisis.”

Roads and bridges leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government and home to several foreign diplomatic compounds including the U.S. Embassy, were barricaded by concrete barriers. Iraqi security forces stood guard, blocking access to the gates of the zone.

The protesters, mostly Shiites from the capital but also from Iraq’s southern provinces, walked to an assembly point in the Jadriya neighborhood.

Al-Sadr, whose party won the most seats in the May 2018 parliamentary elections, had called the rally to demand the withdrawal of American troops following the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike near Baghdad’s airport that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The killing drew the ire of Iraqi officials from across the political spectrum.