About 400 protesters converged on Baghdad’s main Tahrir Square, carrying banners and chanting slogans against Maliki’s government and calling for better public services, notably electricity.

But the demonstration was overshadowed by a larger rally of some 3,000 people, also at Tahrir Square, calling for the execution of 25 accused insurgents, whom authorities allege took part in the 2006 massacre of a wedding party.

Security forces were out in large numbers at the square, which was closed to vehicle traffic. The thoroughfare is located in the heart of Baghdad, the traditional site for weekly demonstrations.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters also converged on the city of Hilla and Basra, both south of Baghdad. Authorities have also banned vehicle traffic in Tikrit city and Diyala province, north of the capital.

“Our hearts are stronger than your government,” declared a banner carried by anti-government demonstrators at Tahrir Square.

“We want the government to improve basic services,” read another banner, carried by a trio of women wearing red, white and black scarves, representing the colors of the Iraqi flag.

“I am protesting against everything because everything is wrong,” said Mohammed Jassim, a 28-year-old jobless protester.

In Baghdad, a small scuffle erupted after about a dozen demonstrators calling for the deaths of the insurgents rushed into the group of rival protesters and began to assault several of them before running away.

In Kerbala, official sources said the province had bussed hundreds of people to Baghdad for the protest against the perpetrators of the wedding massacre. Twenty-five accused insurgents are in prison for the killing. The “Great Iraqi Revolution,” a group set up on social networking website Facebook, drew more than 36,000 members and urged supporters to take to the streets.

While signs of progress are visible, from road-building projects to sewerage upgrades, little in the way of landmark legislation has been passed, and key issues remain unresolved.

Maliki had set the timetable on Feb. 27, noting that reviews would be carried out based on ministerial performance over the ensuing 100 days and warning that “changes will be made” based on those assessments.

But the day before the deadline was set to expire, he indicated that no top politicians would be dismissed for poor performance, insisting his remarks had been misunderstood.

In response to the February rallies, Iraq re-allocated $900 million (623 million euros) originally earmarked to purchase fighter planes to buying food for the poor, reserved $400 million for generator fuel to power air conditioners over the hot summer, and started demonstrable projects such as the roadworks and sewerage repairs.

Meanwhile, a militia group in Iraq on Friday claimed a rocket attack this week on a Baghdad base which killed five US soldiers, a strike that revived security concerns as US forces prepare to pull out at the end of the year.

Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) said in a posting on its website its fighters carried out Monday’s rocket strike on the Camp Loyalty base in Baghdad’s eastern Baladiyat district.

The US military has said only the Americans were killed when the base came under “indirect fire,” the term it uses to refer to mortar or rocket fire. It was the biggest single loss of life for US troops in Iraq in two years.

Another US soldier was killed in south Iraq on Wednesday.

Kata’ib Hezbollah is one of several Shiite militias which US officials say are backed and trained by Iran and which they say have stepped up attacks on remaining US forces in Iraq in recent months. Tehran denies training the militias.