US "raid" in Baghdad Shi'ite area sparks protest

BAGHDAD, Nov 14 (Reuters) Chanting slogans in support of a radical, anti-American, Shi'ite cleric, mourners carried coffins today through a Baghdad district where Iraqi officials said US forces killed six people in an overnight raid.

The US military declined to confirm any operation in Shula, a Shi'ite enclave in mostly Sunni west Baghdad.

Interior Ministry sources said 13 people were also wounded after US troops called in an air strike when they came under fire from Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is under pressure from Washington to crack down on Shi'ite militias blamed for widespread sectarian killings but that, like the Mehdi Army, are tied to powerful political parties in his coalition. There was no comment from Maliki's office on the events in Shula.

Recent US raids in Shi'ite areas targeting suspected sectarian death squad leaders have prompted angry protests from Maliki's Shi'ite constituency. Maliki has distanced himself from past operations in Shi'ite areas, like Baghdad's Sadr City.

Angry mourners today chanted slogans in support of Sadr, a youthful, anti-American cleric who is a partner in Maliki's six-month-old government.

Maliki, struggling to appease powerful political barons in his Shi'ite-led coalition amid soaring sectarian violence and fears of civil war, has insisted he needs time to forge a political consensus to reduce violence.

He criticised a US raid last month on Sadr City in east Baghdad where US troops were seeking a renowned warlord known as Abu Deraa.

REUTERS MS HT1512