Thousands of Italians took to streets across the country on Sunday, celebrating the Liberation Day and urging the government to withdraw Italian forces from Iraq.

In Rome, people gathered at the Campidoglio Square where the municipal government is located, holding banners saying "Italy keeps distance from wars" and "Immediate withdrawal of Italian forces from Iraq".

Several leaders of the Green Party and other political parties also attended the demonstration in the capital city.

Demonstrators also gathered in the country's Northern city of Milan, asking the end of the foreign forces' occupation in Iraq and the transfer of power to the Iraqi people.

Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has stood firmly with USPresident George W. Bush in the Iraqi war. The country has deployed nearly 3,000 soldiers in Iraq.

Four Italian hostages were kidnapped in Iraq earlier in April by an Iraqi Islamist group which calls itself the Mujahideen Brigades. The organization demanded the withdrawal of Italy forcesfrom Iraq. One of the four was killed later.

The Liberation Day marks the day in 1945 when Italy freed itself from fascists and Nazis by the Allied forces and Italian partisans.

Source: Xinhua