BAGHDAD (AFP) — People torched a US flag in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City after weekly Friday prayers to denounce a proposed agreement to deploy American troops in the country beyond 2008.
The protesters also set on fire an effigy of US President George W. Bush and vowed alliegance to anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, as Iraqi troops watched from rooftops, an AFP correspondent said.
Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki agreed in principle in November to sign the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the end of July, but negotiations appear to have hit a snag.
Iraq has a "different vision" from the US over the proposed deployment and wants to protect is national interests, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Tuesday.
Shiite prayer leader Sattah al-Batat told worshippers the agreement "would give full authority to the Americans as well as the right to do whatever they want without fear of retribution.
"As long as Moqtada Sadr rejects the agreement, it will not be signed" by the government, Batat told worshippers. A banner read: "The agreement with the Americans is an act of war against the Iraqi people."
Draped in a white shroud, a traditional symbol of religious martyrdom, and with an Iraqi flag tied around his neck, Batat said the American powers would be far too broad, even preventing President Jalal Talabani freedom of movement.
"American soldiers will have the right to forbid our president to land in Iraq or even go home to his house," he said.
Sadr has vowed to keep up a campaign of protest to force the government to relinquish the agreement. His Mahdi Army militia was locked in deadly fighting with US and Iraqi troops for seven weeks in Sadr City before a truce was agreed on May 10.
Friday's demonstrations in Sadr City and elsewhere in Iraq followed a similar rally a week ago after Sadr called on his supporters to protest and force the Baghdad government to abandon its proposed deal with Washington.
In the cities of Kufa, Karbala and Basra, Shiites on Friday held prayers and demonstrations to denounce the negotiations between Washington and Baghdad.
"The agreement must be rejected because it is synonymous with humiliation and disgrace", Sadr spokesman Salah al-Obeidei told worshippers in Kufa.
The proposed agreement is aimed at giving a legal basis to US troops after the December 31 expiry of a UN mandate defining their current status.
There are currently about 150,000 US troops deployed in Iraq, which was invaded by US-led forces in March 2003.
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