Al-Sadr calls for demonstration on April 9th

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Wednesday called on his followers to stage a demonstration on April 9th marking the 6th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. “Al-Sadr called on his followers to stage a massive demonstration on April 9 in Baghdad marking the 6th anniversary of foreign troops invasion of Iraq,” Salah al-Ubeidi, a Sadrist official, said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “The Shiite cleric hopes that all Iraqi people; Sunni and Shiites, Arabs and Kurd, Muslims and Christians would take part in this demonstration against the continued presence of foreign occupation in Iraq,” the statement said. U.S. President Barack Obama has called for American combat troops to withdraw from Iraq by August 2010, with 35,000 to 50,000 remaining until the end of 2011 for support and training. There were small protests against the war in Washington and New York last week on the eve of the anniversary. About 140,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Iraq. Late last year, a U.S. congressional report estimated that there were also at least 190,000 private contractors working on U.S.-funded projects in the country. In the six years since U.S.-led coalition forces invaded Iraq, the Web site “Iraq body Count” says more than 91,121 Iraqi civilians have been killed. At least 4,259 U.S. troops have been killed, along with 307 soldiers from other coalition countries. SH (S) 1