BAGHDAD, March 12: Around 2,000 supporters of a hardline Shia group gathered in Baghdad on Friday to denounce the country's new interim constitution, in the latest show of strength by Shias demanding greater influence.

The protesters were mostly supporters of the "Group of the Virtuous", a Shia group calling for the direct implementation of Islamic law in state affairs and for the establishment of a theocratic political system similar to Iran's.

"They want Iraq to split into many countries, and they want us to be their subjects," they chanted. "We will never accept a constitution written by the Jews."

Sheik Mohammad al-Yaaqubi, a self-proclaimed ayatollah who heads the group, said Shias' rights were being ignored by Iraq's occupiers.

"It's the first democracy in which the opinion of the minority is dominant, while the majority are fighting for survival," he said in a statement. "This law has lots of gaps that can bring evil. Whatever is said to justify this document...is false."

Shias, who suffered years of oppression under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, make up around 60 per cent of the population.

Many say the interim constitution gives minority groups like the Kurds too much influence over Iraq's future.

Iraq's United States-appointed Governing Council signed the document on Monday, after weeks of wrangling. But most Shia members of the Council said they were unhappy with it and hoped to make changes.

Iraq's most revered Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a statement after the signing saying the interim constitution was deeply flawed.

The document will guide an Iraqi government due to take power on June 30 until a permanent constitution is drawn up next year.

At the Baghdad protest, young men waving Iraqi flags chanted slogans denouncing the United States and Israel.

"This constitution does not represent us. It is an attempt to stop the Islamists from taking power in this country. We denounce this constitution that was written by American hands." said Ahmad Saed, 32, a shop owner who attended the prayers.

"The religious authority was not consulted in this constitution, it's a pre-made dish cooked by the Americans and their puppets in the Governing Council. We are ready to sacrifice our lives to change this constitution," said Sheikh Hadi Waeli, another protester.

Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shia cleric with a large following among the Shia urban poor in Baghdad, also denounced the constitution in his Friday sermon in Kufa, 160 km south.-Reuters