Chanting "no to America," supporters of a radical Shiite cleric burned an effigy of President George W. Bush Friday in a protest demanding parliament scuttle a U.S.-Iraqi security pact and American troops begin withdrawing from Iraq immediately.
The demonstration drew nearly 20,000 followers of Muqtada al-Sadr to Firdous Square, the same spot where U.S. Marines toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein and exultant Iraqis pummeled it with debris in what became an iconic image of the fall of Baghdad and the end of the dictator's 23-year rule.
Friday's protest was the latest display of opposition to an accord that could push Iraq into new political turmoil even though the ruling coalition appears to have enough parliamentary votes to narrowly approve the deal.
Parliament is scheduled to vote on the pact Monday, but presidential spokesman Naseer al-Ani told Iraq's Sharqiyah television that the vote might be delayed until after the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, which falls in early December.
"It will need more time. Perhaps until after Eid al-Adha," he told the station. The legislature is expected to go into recess this month ahead of Eid al-Adha, when scores of lawmakers travel to Saudi Arabia for the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
The pact establishes a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from cities by June 30 and the entire country by 2011. It places U.S. forces under tight Iraqi control and gives the Iraqis limited powers to put American soldiers and civilian Pentagon employees on trial in cases of serious crimes committed off-base and off-duty.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said the agreement offers Iraq the only viable option to regain full sovereignty. The alternative would be to seek the renewal of a U.N. mandate that, he said, allows U.S. forces a free rein in the country. The mandate expires Dec. 31.
But none of that mattered Friday at Firdous Square, where protesters waved Iraqi flags and green Shiite banners and chanted: "No, no to the agreement of humiliation!"
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