Thousands of Shiite Muslims have taken to the streets of Baghdad in the biggest anti-US demonstration since the end of the war in Iraq.
US troops looked on but did not intervene as up to 10,000 people gathered in front of a Sunni Muslim mosque in the capital's northern Azimiyah district.
The crowd, some carrying portraits of Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and other noted Shiite clerics, then marched to the nearby Kadhamiya quarter, home to one of the holiest Shiite shrines in Iraq.
"We decided to gather outside a Sunni mosque to show unity between Shiites and Sunnis," said one march organiser. He said the procession was organised by religious groups from Baghdad's al-Thawra suburb - formerly known as Saddam City, where an estimated two million Shiites live.
The crowd chanted "No Shiites and no Sunnis, just Islamic unity," sang religious songs, and carried banners reading "No to the foreign administration," and "We want honest Iraqis, not their thieves".
That appeared to be a reference to Mr Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress and one of the key players in US-led discussions to form a new government.
He was convicted in 1992 by a Jordanian court of embezzlement and fraud. Mr Chalabi says he was set up.
The noisy but peaceful protest appeared to be well organised. Participants were sprayed with water to cool them off, and monitors followed the crowd to ensure they stayed peaceful.
AP