Demonstrating Iraqi women hold up a banner that reads "We women stand together with the highest religious council against the occupation" during a protest following congregational Friday noon prayers in Najaf, 160 kms south of Baghdad, on July 11, 2008. Demonstrators in several Shiite Muslim areas including Sadr City today continued protests against a security pact currently under negotiations between Baghdad and Washington concerning a long-term US military presence in war-torn Iraq. AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN