"We want a new national conference," chanted the protestors led by dozens of religious leaders from the powerful Hawza Shiite school in the holy city of Najaf.
"Yes, Yes, Islam," they shouted as they marched in orderly fashion from al-Andalus Square to al-Fardus Square where Saddam's Hussein huge statue was toppled on April 9 marking an end to the regime.
The demonstration halted in front of two tanks and lines of barbed outside the Palestine Hotel where journalists are housed and US forces have set up office.
The show of strength came as the retired US general running the country invited between 300 and 400 Iraqis of all political stripes to meet him in the capital on Monday.
Iraq's largest Shiite Muslim group, the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), said it would not attend the US-sponsored gathering.
"We want an Iraqi national conference which will very quickly open the way for all political sides, including the Hawza, to set up a provisional government," said Baghdad university political science professor Nadim Issa over a loudhailer.
"This government should run Iraq for one year, during which a constitution must be drawn up enshrining the freedom and rights of everyone," he said - Sapa-AFP
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