Press TV - Iraqis have taken to the streets of the capital, Baghdad, in a show of support for the country�s religious authority, who has demanded peaceful anti-government protesters distance themselves from saboteurs.

The demonstrators marched to Baghdad�s iconic Tahrir�Square on Thursday, demanding that non-peaceful protesters be sidelined during�the ongoing protests against the economic woes.

They were chanting slogans and waving placards reading, �Death to USA.�

In a Friday prayers sermon read by his representative, Iraq�s most prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged protesters not to allow attacks on people and their property.

�It is imperative on peaceful demonstrators that they separate their ranks from non-peaceful individuals and cooperate�on shunning saboteurs � whoever they are � and not allow them to abuse peaceful protests to damage and attack the property of citizens," he said.

That statement came two days after a group of rioters stormed into Iran�s consulate in Iraq�s holy city of Najaf and set it ablaze.

At the start of October, street protests erupted in several Iraqi cities over unemployment and a lack of basic services.

The rallies resumed on October 25 after a pause of about two weeks, but took a violent turn, with some participants vandalizing public property and opening fire on demonstrators during the mayhem.