Iraq Cleric to Widen War After U.S. Bombs Baghdad HQ

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Monday ordered his Mehdi Army to launch a broad new offensive against U.S.-led occupying forces following a U.S. crackdown on his strongholds in Baghdad and across the south.

U.S. bombs flattened his office in the capital overnight.

"We have now entered a second phase of resistance," said Sadr's chief aide at his main base in the holy city of Najaf.

U.S. commanders, helped by rival Shi'ite leaders, sound increasingly confident of containing Sadr's month-old uprising.

But efforts to foster a pro-American spirit in Iraq ahead of next month's handover of sovereignty to an interim government ran into more trouble with new revelations from the International Committee of the Red Cross about U.S. failures to prevent its soldiers abusing Iraqis.

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