Anger in Iraq's Najaf after U.S. kills Sadr aide

Anger in Iraq's Najaf after U.S. kills Sadr aide

By Khaled Farhan Wed Dec 27, 11:59 AM ET

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched through the holy Iraqi city of Najaf in an angry funeral procession after a senior Sadr aide was killed by a U.S. soldier on Wednesday.

Chanting "No to America" and carrying placards decrying U.S. occupation, mourners, including black-robed clerics, carried the coffin of Saheb al-Amiri through the streets.

Members of Sadr's group accused the Americans of provoking a confrontation and demanded a government inquiry.

Najaf, home to Iraq's top Shi'ite clerics, was the site of a 2004 rebellion against U.S. forces by militias loyal to Sadr, who also has power bases in Baghdad.

Another uprising against U.S. forces by Sadr Mehdi Army militias would be a major headache for the U.S. military, which has 135,000 troops in a country gripped by Shi'ite-Sunni strife.

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Iraq's Sadr Bloc Claims Aide Killed by US Troops

By VOA News
27 December 2006

Radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's group has accused U.S. forces of killing a senior member of the group, and has called for a government investigation.

A spokesman says U.S. and Iraqi soldiers raided the home of Sahib al-Ameri early Wednesday near the city of Najaf and shot him dead.

The U.S. military confirmed the raid, and said coalition troops killed a man who was a suspect in roadside bombing attacks.

In other violence, Iraqi police say a car bomb blast killed eight people in eastern Baghdad.

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A top aide to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was killed in a raid by U.S. troops Wednesday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, an Iraqi lawmaker said.

The U.S. military said the death occurred during a joint operation by American and Iraqi troops. It described the man, Sahib al-Amiri, as a criminal involved in the use of roadside bombs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Tension was boiling up further south in the holy city of Najaf after an American soldier killed a senior ally of Sadr during a raid on his house.

Sadr supporters and local police told AFP that US and Iraqi soldiers had stormed the family home of Sahib al-Ameri, the president of a pro-Sadr political foundation in the holy city of Najaf, and shot him dead.

The US military confirmed one of its troops had shot Ameri in an overnight raid by Iraqi forces, backed up by coalition military advisers.

A statement said Ameri was implicated in recent bomb attacks on US and Iraqi forces, and was shot by an adviser after he fled to the roof of his house and aimed an assault rifle at an Iraqi soldier.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061227/ts_afp/iraq_061227153537