Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr issued a fresh call on Friday for US troops to withdraw from Iraq saying there would be no sectarian violence after foreign forces quit the country.

His followers set fire to a large Pokemon doll decked in small US flags after Friday prayers in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City quarter, a bastion of the cleric, where two million people live.

The faithful torched American and Israeli flags and danced around the flames while waving an Iraqi flag and chanting slogans denouncing the occupying foreign forces.

Sadr's representative, Sheikh Sattar al-Battat, leading the first Friday prayers after the end of Ramadan, said his leader wanted the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to get the Americans out quickly.

"I ask the government to end the occupation," Battat said quoting a message from Sadr who is reportedly based in the Iranian city of Qom. "The government must send out the US troops and free all Iraqi prisoners held by them."

He said there will be no sectarian violence between the majority Shiites and the Sunnis after Iraqi sovereignty was restored with the withdrawal of all "occupying forces."

In August, Sadr ordered a halt to armed operations by his 60 000-strong Mahdi Army militia, blamed by Washington for some of the worst sectarian killings of Sunni Arabs in the war-torn country.

Heavy fighting in March and April between his figthers and security forces in Baghdad and the south had left hundreds killed. However, Iraqi forces and Sadr's faction entered into a truce in May to end the firefights.

On a scorchingly not day, there were few Sadr followers attending prayers on Friday compared than on previous weeks.

An official from Sdar's office, Ali Hussein, said many Shiites in the area were out visiting friends and relatives for Eid al-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of the fasting month. The Sadrists began Eid on Wednesday.

Battat said the Shiites and Sunnis must also end the practice of holding Eid on separate days. Even among the Shiites, celebrations of Eid are on two different days.

"In the future, there must be one day for Muslims to celebrate Eid," Battat said while calling for unity.

He asked the Shiite district to cooperate with Iraqi security forces. "Even if they get angry with you when they see you carrying a photograph of the Moqtada (Sadr), be kind to them," he said. "Don't get into arguments."

Two US helicopters were seen flying overhead as Battat got onto a small make-shift stage and addressed the faithful and worked the crowd to fever pitch with anti-American rhetoric.

A man sprayed cool water at the crowds baking in temperatures of more than 40 degrees centigrade, while a few prayed under large umbrellas.

Heavily armed Iraqi troops guarded the area with their armored cars while Sadr volunteers frisked people entering the prayer site to check for weapons and explosives.

AFP