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NAJAF, Aug 2: US troops surrounded the home of wanted radical Shia leader Moqtada Sadr in this Iraqi holy city on Monday, sparking brief clashes in which a woman was killed.
But the US military denied encircling Moqtada Sadr's house, as an official at the firebrand's Najaf office confirmed he had not been home at the time. US armoured vehicles, backed by Iraqi security forces, cordoned off the eastern Al Zahra neighbourhood where Sadr's home is located, around 7pm.
As US troops clashed with Sadr's militia, smoke was seen rising from the area amid the sound of heavy gunfire, mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenade explosions. About one hour later, US troops and Iraqi forces withdrew as dozens of armed militiamen, some dressed in black, fanned out around Sadr's home. A vehicle nearby was on fire.
The director of the city's Hakim hospital said a woman was killed and three people wounded in the clashes. Sattar al Bahadli, an official at Moqtada Sadr's office, said two militiamen were hurt, but it was unclear if they were among the three admitted to hospital.
Only women were inside the Shia leader's house at the time and US forces did not try to raid the building, Bahadli said. "There was absolutely no provocation whatsoever on our part to justify this," he added.
A US military spokesman said only that marines on patrol retaliated after coming under rocket and RPG fire. "Reports of surrounding Moqtada al Sadr's house are false," he said.
The violence came two days after US-led multinational forces arrested Sheikh Mithal al Hasnawi, Sadr's representative in Karbala. Moqtada Sadr agreed to a truce in early June after leading a bloody two-month uprising against the occupation authority.
No final agreement was reached on the fate of his militia or an arrest warrant issued against him in connection with the murder of a rival last year. Although the ceasefire was tenuous at first, it has largely held amid some conciliatory moves by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's caretaker government.
Allawi has lifted a ban imposed on a Sadr newspaper by the US-led authority in March that was one of the triggers for his uprising.
ATTACKS ON CHURCHES: Iraq accused Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al Zarqawi on Monday of carrying out coordinated car bombings at churches that killed at least 11 people, saying the militants wanted to drive Christians out of the country.
Muslim leaders condemned the car bombings, which were timed for Sunday evening services in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul. "There is no shadow of a doubt that this bears the blueprint of Zarqawi," said national security adviser Mowaffaq al Rubaie, adding the militants wanted to spark religious conflict.
"Zarqawi and his extremists are basically trying to drive a wedge between Muslims and Christians in Iraq. It's clear they want to drive Christians out of the country," he said.
The Jordanian-born militant has claimed responsibility for many major car bombings in Iraq and also the killing of several foreign hostages among dozens seized in recent months.
Sunday's car bombs hit at least five churches, including four in Baghdad. Police defused two more bombs outside other churches, one in Baghdad and the other in Mosul. The attacks killed at least 11 people and wounded 55, the US military and police said.
Christians make up three per cent of the Iraqi population and have generally had good ties with the Muslim community. In a statement, the country's top Shia leader Ayatollah Sistani condemned the blasts as "grotesque crimes" and said minorities had to be protected.
Pope John Paul branded the bombings "unjust aggression". Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin said the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was trying its best to combat the guerillas and uproot their networks.
"This shows there are no borders to the barbarity of the crimes of these terrorists," he said. Parish priest Bashar Muntihorda, speaking outside a Chaldean church in Baghdad that was hit, said: "The damage that was done is so high to the courage of the people, to their feelings, to their hopes that a bright future is coming." Volunteers swept up debris, including a broken stained-glass window depicting Christ. -AFP / Reuters
