About 10,000 Shiite Muslims marched through Baghdad Monday in the largest anti-American protest since the war ended.

Organizers armed with rifles patrolled the area, but the demonstration was peaceful. U.S. soldiers, including some perched on rooftops, watched the rally and didn't intervene.

Shiite Muslims said they want an end to the U.S. occupation, and the establishment of a government that is not under U.S. influence.

Baghdad

The crowd chanted and carried banners reading "No to the foreign administration," and "We want honest Iraqis, not thieves.''

The message appeared to be in reference to Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress and one of the key players in the current round of U.S.-led discussions to form a new government.

Chalabi was convicted in 1992 by a Jordanian court of embezzlement and fraud, and some Iraqis have criticized him harshly.