WASHINGTON�Protesters are coming to the Nation�s Capitol Aug. 5-7 for a national demonstration and another call to end U.S.-led sanctions against Iraq.

The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the American Friends Service Committee, the Washington Peace Center and a coalition of groups want U.S. officials to stop bombings in Iraq and lift UN-imposed economic sanctions. Their schedule includes vigils, rallies and protests at the White House.

The UN Security Council, pushed by the United States and Great Britain, has kept trade sanctions against Iraq in force since August 6, 1990, saying Iraq must dispose of weapons of mass destruction. The sanctions have become a new weapon of mass destruction, critics charge.

John Pilger, a filmmaker from the United Kingdom, has just produced a documentary, which shows in painful detail how the sanctions are only succeeding in killing the people. "Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq" is a clear account of the mass destruction of an entire society, activists say.

"The sanctions are killing the women and children. Since the sanctions began children have died in Iraq because of lack of medicine and medical equipment," said Phyllis Bennis, a Middle East fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies.

"The 10 years of isolation from the world has killed more people than the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan," said Mr. Pilger. "The death rate for children under five is 4,000 every month. The sanctions deny basic medicine and some children don�t even make it to the hospital."

Dennis Halliday was sent to Iraq by the United Nations to oversee Security Council sanctions. He quit in 1998, accusing the west of destroying the Iraqi people.

"They (President Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair) should be here and see what their decisions have created. We�re targeting civilians and children. We�re destroying an entire society. It is as simple and terrifying as that," said Mr. Halliday.

The sanctions also forced Mr. Halliday�s replacement Hans Von Sponeck to quit as well with these words, "I could no longer tolerate the suffering in Iraq."

�Nisa Islam Muhammad