Iraqi Shiites want break with U.S. over Lebanon

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4065533.html

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - The clerics are outraged. The Iraqi street is angry. And some Shiite politicians want Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to cancel his trip to Washington to protest the fighting in Lebanon.

Despite public anger, the Shiite political establishment has too much to lose politically by risking its ties with the Americans over the fate of Hezbollah at a time when Iraq may be coming unglued.

On Saturday, the Fadhila Party, which is part of al-Maliki's Shiite alliance, urged the prime minister to call off his visit, which includes a meeting Tuesday at the White House with President Bush.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a similar call Friday. And both Shiite and Sunni preachers railed against both Israel and its American backers during sermons Friday throughout the country.