New Delhi: Thousands of Iraqi Shias have converged on the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, to stage a massive anti-US rally on Monday.
Around 3,00,000 Shias have left Sadr City to travel to Najaf for the mass demonstration.
The rally, called by radical Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, will also mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime.
Muqtada al-Sadr has severely criticised the United States, saying its invasion of Iraq has burdened the country with violence, poverty, lack of services and sectarian fighting that continues to plague Iraq.
"I renew my call for the occupier [the US] to leave our land," he said in his statement. "The departure of the occupier will mean stability for Iraq, victory for Islam and peace and defeat for terrorism and infidels," he added.
Al-Sadr's al-Mahdi army group fought US troops in 2004, but has generally co-operated with an ongoing US-Iraqi security push in Baghdad.
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