Protesters in Baghdad say, “No America!”

BAGHDAD — Residents of the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City on Friday showed signs of growing resentment toward the presence of U.S. troops in the area, chanting “No occupation!” and “No America!” in a march demanding the removal of a U.S. base there.

The protest came as U.S. military officials cited Sadr City, stronghold of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr, as a success story in a month-old effort to improve security in Baghdad. It also coincided with an announcement that the Pentagon is speeding up the deployment of 2,600 soldiers in a combat aviation brigade. Commanders, who need support troops for the military buildup here, had requested the early deployment.

The troops will bring the number of additional U.S. military personnel being sent to Iraq to enforce the security plan to 28,700, including 7,200 support troops. The security plan was launched Feb. 13 and is scheduled to be at full strength by June.

The Sadr City protest followed Friday prayers, which featured a statement from Sadr calling on followers to “raise your voices in unity” against “America, the grand devil.” The statement, read by a prominent cleric close to Sadr, marked a toughening of his rhetoric as the U.S. touts its foothold in Sadr City.

The relationship between the United States and Sadr has become increasingly complex since the new security crackdown. Sadr frequently has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. But in recent weeks he has become an indirect but crucial ally of U.S. military officials. He pulled his Al Mahdi militia off the streets when the plan was launched, reportedly as a favor to Iraq’s Shiite Muslim prime minister, Nouri Maliki.

That accommodation has helped U.S. forces carry out their operations. But analysts have been suggesting that Sadr risks losing his credibility as a voice of resistance if he is perceived as helping the U.S. cause. Concern over that possibility could explain his statement Friday.

Sadr’s whereabouts remains unknown and he has not appeared in public since the security plan was launched. His aides have denied U.S. officials’ suggestions that he went to Iran to evade the crackdown, which will put tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi security personnel on the streets.

Two weeks ago, in a major step, hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops entered Sadr City to search for weapons and establish a security post there. The sprawling, poverty-stricken district in northeast Baghdad has a history of resistance to American forces, but there was no fighting when the U.S. and Iraqi troops arrived March 4.

Since then, U.S. military officials have cited Sadr City as evidence that Iraqis want to work with security forces to quell Baghdad’s violence and that they no longer need militias such as Sadr’s to protect them.

Residents marching Friday, though, said they were anything but accepting of the foreign forces. Some said they wanted U.S. troops out because they blamed the United States for the violence plaguing Iraq.

“It is the feeling of any patriotic citizen. I am not saying this as a resident of Sadr City but as an Iraqi: Since they came we have seen nothing but poverty, unemployment and hunger,” said Raad Salman. He was one of several thousand people who joined the demonstration immediately after Friday prayers, which traditionally draw thousands of worshipers.

Two of the five U.S. combat brigades involved in the troop increase have arrived in Baghdad. There are about 142,000 American troops currently in Iraq, including 60,000 combat personnel and 82,000 support troops.

The 2,600 troops of the 3rd Infantry Division’s combat aviation brigade, stationed at Ft. Stewart, Ga., will leave for Iraq in May, about 45 days ahead of their previous schedule. The request to speed up their deployment was made by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

The aviation brigade, like other parts of the 3rd Infantry Division, had been on tap to go to Iraq later this year for its third deployment of the war. But with the buildup of combat brigades, the unit’s Black Hawk, Chinook and Apache helicopters will be needed sooner for medical evacuation, transportation and attack missions.

Elsewhere Friday, at least two people were killed in attacks. One person died when mortar rounds exploded near a Sunni mosque in southeast Baghdad. Two rounds hit the area behind the mosque, and a third landed in front of it, causing some damage to the facade.

South of Baghdad, in Hillah, one person died when mortar rounds struck various parts of the city.

Police in Baghdad reported finding the bodies of 11 men who had been shot to death, apparent victims of Shiite death squads.

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Times staff writers Julian E. Barnes in Washington and Saif Hameed in Baghdad, special correspondent Saad Fakhrildeen in Najaf, and special correspondents in Baghdad and Hillah contributed to this report.