BAGHDAD: Several thousand supporters of Moqtada Sadr protested yesterday against an emerging US-Iraqi security agreement, saying it would turn Iraq into a US colony. The march in the southern city of Kufa came a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad to discuss the deal, which includes a gradual withdrawal of US forces. Sadr, who lives in Iran but retains significant political clout in Iraq, strongly opposes the US military presence. In Kufa, about 2,000 Sadrists marched after Friday prayers. An aide to Sadr, Sheikh Dia Shawki, told the worshippers that the emerging deal goes against the will of the Iraqi people.