Most provinces, from Baghdad south, are controlled by Sadr's rivals in the Shiite fundamentalist parties Islamic Dawa and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.
Baghdad police said gunmen marched through the streets and others burned tires as the protests spread across several neighborhoods, including Amal, Shula and Shurta. Sadr's supporters insisted that the rallies were peaceful and that no gunmen were present. They vowed their demonstrations would continue today.
"The shops were closed but it was voluntary. . . . Most of the shops had banners saying words like, 'We protest the detention of our sons and brothers,' " said Abu Haidar, a community leader from the Amal neighborhood.
Sadr called a six-month cease-fire for his militia after clashes erupted between his followers and Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council supporters in the pilgrimage city of Karbala in late August. He extended the cease-fire for another six months in late February, but since then, some of his rank-and-file supporters have fought with Iraqi soldiers and police in the southeastern city of Kut.
Sadr parliament bloc member Nassar Rubaie blamed Iraq's police and army for carrying out political parties' agendas, in a veiled reference to the Islamic Dawa Party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.
"They are wearing the uniforms of the army and police but implementing the agendas of the parties, and this is obvious in the southern provinces," he said. "We all know how popular the Sadrists are. Those parties are afraid of the Sadrists as elections approach. They are clinging to power."
The Sadr movement, which claims to represent millions of Iraqis, wants greater power in southern Iraq. The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council won the largest number of provincial councils from Baghdad to Basra in January 2005 elections, but the Sadr movement believes it can now rout its rivals.
Officials from Maliki's government worry that Sadr's followers could have been behind mortar strikes Sunday on Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home to the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy. They believed the attacks were probably meant to remind Iraqi and U.S. officials of the Mahdi Army's ability to affect Baghdad's stability.
"They wanted to show they can cause significant damage to the security situation," said an official who works in Iraq's Cabinet but declined to give his name because of the sensitivity of the topic.
Parliament member Sami Askari, who has close ties to Maliki, said that security officials in the government believed the Mahdi Army was behind the attack.
He warned that there was no clear distinction between mainstream Sadr backers and those U.S. officials believe are funded by Iran and have not honored Sadr's call for a truce.
He said it was possible the mainstream Sadr followers were encouraging their more radical elements.
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ned.parker@latimes.com
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Times staff writers Saif Rasheed, Usama Redha and Said Rifai in Baghdad and a special correspondent in Basra contributed to this report.
