Shiites demands British pullout from Basra

"Leave peacefully lest we expel you through our jihad (holy war)," they chanted in front of the headquarters of the British military command controlling southern Iraq, an AFP reporter witnessed.

"No to (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair, no to Satan," shouted the protesters, led by clerics.

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The demonstrators, who rallied at the behest of an organisation named after Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, a leading Shiite religious authority whose 1999 assassination was blamed on Saddam Hussein's deposed regime, handed British officers a petition demanding a British pullout to the outskirts of the city.

The petition also called for "Iraqi national committees to be allowed to ensure law and order in Basra province" and for the abrogation of UN Security Council Resolution 1483 adopted last month on grounds that it legitimised the occupation of Iraq.