Shiites protest U.S.-led occupation

? A day after a devastating suicide car bombing at a police station and the ambush deaths of two U.S. soldiers, thousands of enraged Shiite Muslim residents of the Sadr City neighborhood protested the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and warned American troops to stay out of their community.

The crowd, many dressed in white robes and carrying the coffins of two men they say were killed in a shootout Thursday night with U.S. soldiers, chanted “No! No! No to America!” as local clerics condemned U.S. officials as “terrorists” and “wolves.”

In an incendiary Friday afternoon prayer before thousands of worshippers, Sheik Abdulhadi Darraji accused the United States of provoking chaos and panic in the Middle East and compared life under the occupation to the oppression of old regime.

“America claims to be the pioneer of freedom and democracy, but it resembles a terror organization,” he said. “It thinks of itself as powerful, but its power is material. Its power will vanish. Allah is the powerful one. The Arab world should condemn the wicked American interference.”

Late Thursday night, two U.S. soldiers were ambushed and killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the downtrodden Sadr City neighborhood., according to U.S. Army spokesman Lt. Col. George Krivo.

The attack occurred hours after the suicide car bombing at the Sadr City police station that left 10 dead.

A Shiite dressed in a coffin shroud to signal his readiness for martyrdom gestures during prayers in Sadr City, the largest Shiite Muslim enclave in Baghdad. An ambush Thursday in Sadr City killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded four, just hours after a suicide car bombing in the same area killed 10 people, including the driver. Thousands of Shiites gathered Friday for prayers.

No one claimed responsibility for the terrorist strike, which sparked a day of violent protests by hundreds of local residents who blamed the United States for failing to provide security.

Later that night, Krivo said soldiers with the 1st Armored Division were on a routine patrol when they were approached by civilians pretending to need assistance. They were lured away from their vehicle and attacked with grenades and homemade explosives.

Two other soldiers were wounded.

Clerics denied involvement in the ambush and said American forces were the victims of a gunfight that began when they tried to enter a local Shiite center in an attempt to seize weapons of a Shiite militia.

As of Friday, 326 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq.Since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 188 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq.The latest identifications reported by the military:¢ Army Spc. Joseph C. Norquist, 26, San Antonio; killed Thursday in Baqubah, Iraq, by hostile fire; assigned to the 588th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas.¢ Army Pfc. Kerry D. Scott, 21, Mount Vernon, Wash.; killed Monday by an explosive device in Iskandariyah, Iraq; assigned to 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.¢ Army Pvt. Sean A. Silva, 23, Roseville, Calif.; killed Thursday in an ambush in Baghdad, Iraq; assigned to 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Polk, La.¢ Army Staff Sgt. Christopher W. Swisher, 26, Lincoln, Neb.; killed Thursday in an ambush in Baghdad, Iraq; assigned to 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Polk, La.