Anti-U.S. protesters denounce Biden visit to Iraq

By Andrew Quinn and Sattar Rahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr paraded through a Baghdad slum on Friday, burning American flags and shouting anti-U.S. slogans during a visit to Iraq by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden was on a trip to Iraq to promote reconciliation between Iraq's fractious groups after six years of bloodshed. He met for breakfast on Friday with his son Beau Biden, who is serving there with the U.S. military.

Biden started his visit to Iraq on Thursday night, after U.S. forces pulled out of Iraq's towns and cities this week under the terms of a bilateral security pact that paves the way for a full U.S. withdrawal by 2012.

After Friday prayers, hundreds and possibly thousands of residents of Sadr City chanted "down, down USA" and burned U.S. flags in protest at Biden's visit. A smaller demonstration also took place in Kerbala, in the Shi'ite south.

Biden helped author a 2006 plan to split Iraq into self-ruled Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish enclaves. That plan angered many Iraqis, and was quietly shelved as violence ebbed.

"Biden has come here to divide Iraq according to his plan," said a message from Sadr read out by one Imam in a mosque.

One of Baghdad's blinding dust storms blanketed the city on Friday, grounding helicopters and forcing Biden to reschedule meetings with Iraqi officials.

White House officials said Biden would meet President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and U.S. commanders and troops, marking the U.S. July 4 Independence Day holiday.