BAGHDAD, March 19: Up to three thousand Iraqi Sunni and Shias staged a joint protest here on Friday calling for an end to "American occupation" of their country, on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion.

They took to the streets in a peaceful march after Friday prayers, saying they were opposed to US military presence as well as former president Saddam Hussein.

"No to Saddam. No to the Americans. Yes to Islam," the worshippers chanted before leaving the Kazimiya mosque, which is home to the mausoleum of Hazrat Imam Mussa al Kazem and is the holiest shrine in Baghdad.

During the service, Imam Saeed Hazim al Araji deplored the situation in Iraq and blamed the situation on the US troops deployed in the country. "Some Iraqis speak of liberation but most consider that it is an invasion and we are against this occupation," Araji said in his sermon.

"What have the Iraqis gained from this occupation," he asked, listing among the current woes the detention by US troops of Muslim clerics and "10,000 Iraqis" and roadblocks that cripple life in the country. -AFP