Some 370 American anti-war protesters were arrested in Washington DC on Monday after sitting on the sidewalk opposite the White House after police warned them that if they would be arrested if they did not move.
The group demanded that the US government remove all American soldiers fighting in the US-led campaign in Iraq.
US law dictates that any demonstration of more than five people requires an official permit, which the protesters did not have.
Included amongst those detained was Cindy Sheehan, a woman whose son had been killed while fighting in Iraq last year and who had gained prominence as a leader of America's anti-war movement in recent months.
The incident followed the largest American anti-Iraq war rally since the US-led invasion of Iraq began in 2002. A counter protest of some 200 war supporters followed on Sunday, according to the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Private Lynndie R. England was found guilty of charges of abuse against Iraqi prisoners of war under her care in the Abu Ghraib prison.
England was convicted on Monday of partaking in prisoner abuse when she posed next to Iraqi detainees who had been stripped and humiliating by American guards.
The US army has punished 230 enlisted soldiers and officers for prisoner mistreatment since the Abu Ghraib scandal became public.
