NAJAF, June 11: Friday prayers in the holy city of Najaf were scrapped after scuffles between Shia factions, casting a cloud on relations among the community before the power hand over from the US-led authority in Iraq in three weeks.

Clashes between militiamen and soldiers in Baghdad resulted in the deaths of two Iraqi children and 23 people being wounded as the death toll kept its relentless climb. Officials alleged supporters of radical leader Moqtada Sadr threw stones and shoes at a rival Shia group, preventing prayers from taking place at Najaf's biggest mosque.

They launched the attack as some 200 members of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a mainstream religious party, began entering the Imam Ali mausoleum after holding a street demonstration calling for unity among Muslims.

The pro-Sadr militants allegedly injured a SCIRI official in the head as he helped to prepare a platform for his brother, Sheikh Saddredin al Kubbanji, who conducts Friday prayers at the shrine and is a vocal opponent of Sadr's followers. Fighting also raged on Thursday night between the US army and armed militia, thought to be loyal to Sadr, in eastern Baghdad's slums. -AFP