BANGOR – A vigil sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine to commemorate the 4,500 children who die every month in Iraq as the result of U.S.-U.N. sanctions will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, April 27, at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor.

The vigil will feature the contents of a weekly Iraqi food basket demonstrating how disastrous the limited diet is for growing children. The vigil also will include three baskets representing Secretary of State Colin Powell’s plans for future U.S. relations with Iraq: sanctions, no-fly zones and regime change.

There will be an opportunity at the vigil for people to sign a letter to President Bush drafted by Voices in the Wilderness, a group coordinating the campaign to end the economic sanctions against Iraq.