Al-Sadr calls for protest Million Man March

BASRA, Iraq, April 3 (UPI) -- Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called Thursday for a million-strong march in the shrine city of Najef against the U.S. "occupation" in Iraq.

The protest would be set next Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

The call came after U.S. helicopter strikes resumed in southern Iraq, reportedly killing five people in Hilla and destroying a house in Basra.

Iraq's reported March death toll of 1,082 was 50 percent higher than February, with hundreds killed in Basra, DEBKAfile said