Shiite Gunmen Rampage Through Iraq Cities

NAJAF, Iraq - Gunmen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rampaged through Basra and another southern Iraq (news - web sites) city, attacking British patrols and government buildings a day after an al-Sadr aide offered worshippers money for capturing or killing coalition soldiers.


The aide, Sheik Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, offered the rewards in response to the mistreatment and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards — a sign that the abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison was spilling over into the confrontation between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia.


Al-Sadr also pointed to Abu Ghraib in a sermon he delivered at Friday prayers in Kufa before thousands of worshippers. "What sort of freedom and democracy can we expect from you (Americans) when you take such joy in torturing Iraqi prisoners?" al-Sadr said, his shoulders draped with a white coffin shroud symbolizing his readiness for martyrdom.


Saturday's clashes took place in the cities of Amarah and Basra, the strongest show of force in the area in days by the al-Mahdi Army — and perhaps an attempt to raise a diversion while the U.S military intensifies its crackdown on al-Sadr in his heartland, the holy Shiite cities of Najaf, Kufa and Karbala. U.S. forces have been gradually moving against al-Sadr strongpoints in those cities, and fighting has killed dozens over the past week.

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