Followers of Shiite cleric protest Bush's visit to Iraq (al-Sadr)

[leftchick]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-14-bush-protest_x.htm?csp=34

BAGHDAD (AP) — Some 2,000 followers of a radical Shiite cleric staged a noisy demonstration Wednesday in Baghdad to protest the surprise visit to Iraq by President Bush.
Protesters raised Iraqi flags and pictures of the anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr while chanting "Iraq is for Iraqis" and "No, to the occupation." They also demanded the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Iraq as they marched through the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah.

Hazem al-Araji, an al-Sadr aide, condemned the "ill-fated visit made by the leader of the occupation" in an address to the crowd.

Bush surprised Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with a visit to Baghdad on Tuesday. He promised to continue the United States' support for the new government but cautioned the fate of Iraqis was in their own hands.

Al-Sadr led two armed uprisings against U.S.-led forces in 2004 and frequently has criticized the foreign military mission. His militia, the Mahdi Army, still operates in Basra.



A man holds up a poster of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as some 2,000 followers of al-Sadr stage a noisy demonstration to protest the surprise yet brief visit Tuesday by U.S. President George Bush, in the Kazimiyah area of Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, June 14, 2006. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)