BAGHDAD, April 21: Thousands of fist-shaking Iraqi Shias staged an angry demontration in central Baghdad on Monday, complaining that a prominent religious figure had been arrested by US soldiers.

An army spokesman put the size of the crowd in front of the Palestine Hotel at about 5,000. There were no reports of violence, although the scene was tense when US troops drew their rifles as the protesters pressed against the barbed wire fence.

They chanted slogans on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed Fartusi, although there was no independent report of his detention on his way back to Baghdad from Karbala.

“We are here because the coalition forces arrested three mullahs from Baghdad on their way back from Karbala at the Al Dora checkpoint at midnight, including Mukhallad al-Fartusi,” one man in the crowd said.

Sheikh Fartusi, of the southern holy city of Najaf, led the first open prayers in the sprawling northern slum of Saddam City last Friday. He was presented as a representative of Ayatollah Mohammed Sadr, who was executed in 1999.

Army First Lieutenant Justin Morseth said he had no confirmation of any arrest.

“There would be no reason for us to arrest a Shia religious leader,” Morseth said. “That would cause unruly protests and possible violence. I think it’s possibly a miscommunication somewhere.” —AFP