Iraq’s al-Sadr urges militia to keep fighting US troops

NAJAF – A radical Shi’ite Muslim cleric urged his militia yesterday to keep fighting US forces in Iraq even if he is killed, raising the stakes in a bloody confrontation that shows no sign of ending.

The challenge from Moqtada al-Sadr came as sporadic clashes echoed from the heart of the southern city of Najaf, where hundreds have been killed or wounded in the past week around some of Iraq’s holiest Shi’ite Muslim sites. “Keep fighting even if you see me a prisoner or a martyr.God willing you will be victorious,” Sadr said in a statement from Najaf, where he is holed up with his fighters.In fresh violence elsewhere, at least six Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded when a bomb exploded in a market north of Baghdad on Wednesday, hospital sources said.They said the explosion occurred in Khan Bani Saad village, 40 km north of the capital.There were no further details.The fighting between US forces and Sadr’s Mehdi Army in Najaf, part of a broader Shi’ite uprising in several southern and central cities, is the toughest challenge yet for the six-week-old administration of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.The Shi’ite unrest has disrupted Iraq’s vital oil exports and triggered a spike in world prices.The crisis also appears to have created cracks in Allawi’s administration after deputy president Ibrahim Jaafari urged US troops to leave Najaf to end the fighting.”I call for multinational forces to leave Najaf and for only Iraqi forces to remain there,” Jaafari said in remarks broadcast on Al Jazeera television yesterday.”Iraqi forces can administer Najaf to end this phenomenon of violence in this city that is holy to all Muslims.”US forces have been pounding Sadr’s militiamen in Najaf with warplanes and helicopters for days.The Iraqi fighters have taken sanctuary in the vast cemetery near the Imam Ali Shrine.Marines have cordoned off the area but have not made a full assault, a move that would enrage Iraq’s majority Shi’ites.They have also said they were not hunting Sadr.The cleric said he still wanted Iraq to remain united and thanked “those who tried to resolve the crisis peacefully”.- Nampa-Reuters”Keep fighting even if you see me a prisoner or a martyr.God willing you will be victorious,” Sadr said in a statement from Najaf, where he is holed up with his fighters.In fresh violence elsewhere, at least six Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded when a bomb exploded in a market north of Baghdad on Wednesday, hospital sources said.They said the explosion occurred in Khan Bani Saad village, 40 km north of the capital.There were no further details.The fighting between US forces and Sadr’s Mehdi Army in Najaf, part of a broader Shi’ite uprising in several southern and central cities, is the toughest challenge yet for the six-week-old administration of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.The Shi’ite unrest has disrupted Iraq’s vital oil exports and triggered a spike in world prices.The crisis also appears to have created cracks in Allawi’s administration after deputy president Ibrahim Jaafari urged US troops to leave Najaf to end the fighting.”I call for multinational forces to leave Najaf and for only Iraqi forces to remain there,” Jaafari said in remarks broadcast on Al Jazeera television yesterday.”Iraqi forces can administer Najaf to end this phenomenon of violence in this city that is holy to all Muslims.”US forces have been pounding Sadr’s militiamen in Najaf with warplanes and helicopters for days.The Iraqi fighters have taken sanctuary in the vast cemetery near the Imam Ali Shrine.Marines have cordoned off the area but have not made a full assault, a move that would enrage Iraq’s majority Shi’ites.They have also said they were not hunting Sadr.The cleric said he still wanted Iraq to remain united and thanked “those who tried to resolve the crisis peacefully”.- Nampa-Reuters