Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr delivers his sermon before 6,000 worshippers in the holy Shiite city of Kufa. Al-Sadr appeared in public for the first time in months Friday, delivering a fiery anti-American sermon to thousands of followers and demanding U.S. troops leave Iraq.

Baghdad, Iraq ? Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr resurfaced Friday after nearly four months in hiding and demanded U.S. troops leave Iraq, a development likely to complicate U.S. efforts to crack down on violence and broker political compromise in the country.

Hours later, the notorious leader of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia in the city of Basra was killed in a shootout as British and Iraq troops tried to arrest him, police and the British military said, further inflaming tensions in the Shiite areas of southern Iraq.

The U.S. military also announced the deaths of eight U.S. soldiers and one Marine, putting May on pace to be one of the deadliest months for U.S. forces here in years.

Al-Sadr went underground – reportedly in Iran – at the start of the U.S.-led security crackdown on Baghdad 14 weeks ago. He also had ordered his militia off the streets to prevent conflict with U.S. forces.

His return to the Shiite holy city of Najaf appeared to be an effort by the 33-year-old firebrand cleric to regain control over his militia, which had begun fragmenting, and to take advantage of the illness of a Shiite rival. There also had been some indication that his absence from the national arena was costing him political support.

Al-Sadr drove in a long motorcade from Najaf to its sister city of Kufa to deliver an anti-American sermon to 6,000 chanting supporters at the main mosque.

“No, no for Satan. No, no for America. No, no for the occupation. No, no for Israel,” the glowering, black-turbaned cleric chanted in a call and response with the crowd.

“We demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces, or the creation of a timetable for such a withdrawal,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow with a white cloth as temperatures hovered at 113 degrees. “I call upon the Iraqi government not to extend the occupation even for a single day.”

While the call for a U.S. pullout was nothing new, al-Sadr also peppered his speech with nationalist overtones, criticizing the government for not providing services, appealing to his followers not to fight with Iraqi security forces and reaching out to Sunnis.

“To our Iraqi Sunni brothers, I say that the occupation sows dissension among us and that strength is unity and division is weakness,” he said. “I’m ready to cooperate with them in all fields.”

Al-Sadr did not address his reasons for returning.