Baghdad ? Vice President Joe Biden pressed Iraqi leaders Friday to do more to foster national reconciliation and offered U.S. assistance in achieving that, as concerns grow that a lack of political progress is fueling violence in Iraq.

Protesters, meanwhile, burned an American flag and chanted anti-U.S. slogans in Baghdad’s main Shiite district of Sadr City.

Followers of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr hold such demonstrations weekly after Friday prayers, but the rally underscored the challenges facing the United States as it begins drawing down its military forces and losing its dominance in Iraq.

Biden, who was making his first visit to Baghdad since being appointed to oversee the administration’s Iraq policy, said he came with a message of continuing support for the country even as the U.S. military pulls back.