On April 9th 2005, tens of thousands of protesters marched through Baghdad denouncing the US occupation of Iraq, chanting anti-Western slogans such as "No, no to the occupiers", and "No America! No Saddam! Yes to Islam!". Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr had called for the mass rally to mark the second anniversary of the fall of Baghdad demanding both an end to the US occupation and that Saddam Hussein be brought to trial. Following the march, demonstrators, many loyal to Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, rallied in Firdos Square where the ousted Iraqi leader's statue was toppled in 2003.
"Thousands of Sunnis gathered in downtown Ramadi to protest, as well. The Association of Muslim Scholars declined to have their Sunni Arab followers join the Shiites at Firdos Square, which points to continued sharp ethnic divisions that have made it difficult for Iraqi nationalists to unite against the American presence."

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