Iraqis call for U.S. forces to leave

By Khaled Farhan

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people waving Iraqi flags staged a peaceful rally in the southern city of Najaf on Monday to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces, four years to the day after Baghdad fell to invading American troops.

The streets of the Iraqi capital itself were largely empty after authorities clamped a 24-hour ban on vehicles to prevent any insurgent attacks, especially car bombings.

The anniversary comes as Iraq's Shi'ite-led government is trying to avert full-scale civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis who were dominant under Saddam Hussein. Sunni and Shi'ite clerics marched side by side in Najaf.

The protesters in Najaf were responding to a call by powerful anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who blames the March 2003 invasion for the country's woes and wants a timetable set for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Waving red, white and black Iraqi flags, marchers choked the 7 km long road between Najaf and neighbouring Kufa and clogged streets leading to Sadrayn Square, the main rallying point. Many had come from Baghdad and Shi'ite towns and cities in the south.

Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told reporters travelling with President George W. Bush to Arizona from Texas:

"I note today that Sadr called for massive protests. I'm not sure that we've seen that, those numbers materialise and the numbers that he was seeking...

"But Iraq, four years on, is now a place where people can freely gather and express their opinions, and that was something they could not do under Saddam. And while we have much more progress ahead of us -- the United States, the coalition and Iraqis have much more to do -- this is a country that has come a long way from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein," he said.