Thousands march in Baghdad against U.S. pact

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Thousands march in Baghdad against U.S. pact
By Peter Graff Peter Graff – 25 mins ago

Play Video Video: Packing Up FOX News BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Thousands of followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets on Saturday in a demonstration against a pact that would allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq for three more years.

Marchers waved Iraqi flags and chanted "Yes, yes Iraq! No, no to the occupation!"

"It is a peaceful demonstration, demanding that the occupier leave and the government not sign the pact," Ahmed al-Masoudi, a Sadrist member of parliament, told Reuters.

Demonstrators set fire to a U.S. flag, but the atmosphere appeared mostly peaceful.

Iraqi authorities said the demonstration was authorized and security had been increased to protect the protesters, who were marching from Sadr's stronghold of Sadr City in the east of the capital to a nearby public square at a university.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081018/ts_nm/us_iraq