BAGHDAD - Iraqi Islamist leaders called for a mass demonstration against the US-led troop presence Saturday on the second anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Radical preachers called on their congregations to rally in Firdos Square in central Baghdad where US troops helped haul down a statue of Saddam in celebrated footage that was beamed around the world.
Islamists from both the Shiite majority and the Sunni former elite joined forces in calling for the protest.
"To mark the anniversary of the start of the occupation, I call on all Iraqis to demonstrate tomorrow in Firdos Square where Saddam's statue was toppled," said Sheikh Abdul Zahra al-Suwaidi, a supporter of Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr.
"The rally must be peaceful. You should demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces and press for quicker trials for Saddam Hussein and his aides before an Iraqi court," Suwaidi told worshippers in the Baghdad radical stronghold of Sadr City.
Sunni clerics from the Committee of Muslim Scholars, which organized a boycott of historic January elections, urged followers to join the protest.
"I ask all Iraqi to join in peaceful demonstrations tomorrow against the occupation," said Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari.
"The people must speak with one voice and say: 'No to the occupation; the occupiers must leave.'
"Two years have passed and all we see is bloodshed, destruction and looting."
The Committee of Muslim Scholars has lines of communication to the Sunni Arab insurgents operating in north-central Iraq.
Militiamen loyal to Sadr mounted two uprisings against US-led troops in central and southern Iraq last year before accepting a truce brokered by the Shiite religious leadership.
04/08/2005 15:15 GMT