Thousands join anti-US rally in Baghdad

BAGHDAD: Thousands of supporters of volatile Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr gathered in Baghdad on Friday for a "million-strong" march to demand the ouster of US troops, putting the protest-hit capital on edge.

The march has rattled the separate, months-old protest movement that has gripped the capital and the south since October, demanding a government overhaul, early elections and more accountability.

In the early hours of Friday, thousands of men, women and children of all ages massed under grey skies in the Jadiriyah district of east Baghdad. "Get out, get out, occupier!" some shouted, while others chanted, "Yes to sovereignty!"

The American military presence has been a hot-button issue in Iraq since a US drone strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside Baghdad airport on January 3.

Two days later, parliament voted for all foreign troops -- including some 5,200 US personnel -- to leave the country. The vote was non-binding and a senior US official said on Thursday that Washington had yet to open talks with Baghdad on a troop pullout. "There has not been any real engagement," said ambassador James Jeffrey, the US special envoy for Syria and the coalition against the Islamic State group.