Faithfuls bow in prayer at the Imam Hussein mosque in the holy city of Karbala, some 100 km south of Baghdad, for the first Friday prayers since the occupation

BAGHDAD, April 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The US military has begun replacing the Marines who captured Baghdad with a stabilization force to undertake the daunting task of restoring normality amid growing anti-US sentiment among ordinary Iraqis.

The countries bordering Iraq on Saturday, April 19, called for US and British forces to pull out and for the speedy formation of a representative government in Baghdad, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

And newspaper reports in the United States indicated that President George W. Bush was planning to ask the United Nations to lift economic sanctions against Iraq in “phases”.

American Marines packed their bags and were ready to vacate the Iraqi capital with the army's Fourth Infantry Division expected to move in and take over control of the city during the weekend.

A US public affairs officer said the marines had received orders to leave Baghdad by April 22.

A 30,000-strong task force from the Fourth Infantry is flowing into Iraq from Kuwait to ensure security is re-established across the country.

This includes mopping up the remnants of Saddam Hussein's die-hard Fedayeen militia and suicide bombers, who have claimed the lives of eight US soldiers in three blasts since the war began on March 20.

Unlike the marines, the army is traditionally responsible for civil affairs issues such as rebuilding security and water and electricity systems.

No To occupation

Thousands of Iraqis staged anti-US protests on Friday, April 18, with some 10,000 to 12,000 angry demonstrators marching through central Baghdad chanting: "We will not sell out our country" and condemning the US presence in Iraq with signs that read: "No to occupation".

The demonstrations, unheard of during Saddam's 24 years of repressive rule, came following the first full Friday prayers since the fall of his regime, with hundreds of thousands of worshippers flocking to mosques across Iraq.

Leading Muslim clerics denounced the presence of US and British forces in the country, galvanizing Iraqis frustrated at the slow restoration of basic services such as water and power after the blistering three-week US-led offensive.

In Riyadh, the foreign ministers of the country's neighbors, plus Egypt and Bahrain, called for US and British forces to pull out.

At the close of a meeting to discuss the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's downfall, the ministers underlined the need to uphold Iraq's territorial integrity and called for a central UN role in post-war Iraq.

They also took issue with US claims that Syria was, among others, providing a safe haven for officials of the deposed Iraqi regime and backed a Syrian proposal -- essentially directed at Israel's suspected nuclear arsenal -- to turn the Middle East into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq's neighbors "underlined the obligation of the occupying powers under the Fourth Geneva Convention to ... withdraw from Iraq and allow the Iraqis to exercise their right to self-determination," they said in a joint declaration read by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

 ‘Steadfast’

Amid widespread speculation about the fate of the Iraqi leader, Abu Dhabi television broadcast what it said was footage of crowds cheering Saddam in the streets of Baghdad on April 9, the day US forces invaded the capital.

The footage showed Saddam accompanied by his son Qusay, and surrounded by supporters chanting: "With our blood, with our soul, we will redeem you Saddam."

The channel also aired what it said was Saddam's most recent speech, recorded on April 9, in which he voiced confidence that Iraq would triumph and told the Iraqi people that the country's leadership was "steadfast".

US military tribunals in Iraq have begun deciding the status of some 6,850 people taken prisoner during the war, a Pentagon spokesman said.

And the United States “awarded” a 50-million-dollar contract to a private, Virginia-based firm to recruit advisors to train police in post-war Iraq, the State Department and the company said.

"We have awarded a contract to DynCorp International to identify, deploy and support up to 1,000 police, justice and prison advisors to Iraq," said Brenda Greenberg, a department spokeswoman.