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Sadr moves to Najaf, vows to fight US

Najaf, April 7. (AP): A radical Shiite cleric sought by U.S. forces said Tuesday he is willing to die resisting any attempt to capture him, while battles between gunmen and coalition forces in Shiite cities in the south killed at least 15 Iraqis and wounded dozens.

Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to ``defend their rights'' against U.S.-led forces, as his aides said he had moved from the fortress-like mosque where he had been holed up to his office in this holy Shiite city.

``America has shown its evil intentions, and the proud Iraqi people cannot accept it. They must defend their rights by any means they see fit,'' al-Sadr said in a statment released by his office.

The United States declared an ``outlaw'' after his militiamen battled coalition troops Sunday in Baghdad and outside Najaf in fights that killed 61 people _ including eight U.S. soldiers.

U.S. officials announced an arrest warrant against al-Sadr on Monday, suggesting they would move soon to detain him. The 30-year-old cleric has been a sharp critic of the U.S. occupation and has built up a private militia, the al-Mahdi Army, that U.S. officials say they want to dismantle.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks Monday and Tuesday in a northern Baghdad neighborhood near an area that saw clashes Monday between al-Sadr militiamen and Americans, the military said _ though it was not immediately clear whether they were killed by al-Sadr supporters.

Since Sunday, the showdown with al-Sadr has prompted a wave of violence against coalition troops in normally quiet cities of southern Iraq.

Gunmen battled Italian forces in Nasiriyah in fighting Tuesday that killed 15 Iraqis and wounded 35 others, Paola Della Casa, a spokeswoman for the U.S.-led coalition in Nasiriyah, told the Apcom news agency in Rome. The Defense Ministry said 12 Iralians were wounded.

Al-Sadr supporters clashed Tuesday with British troops in Amarah, where hospital officials reported 42 wounded and an unknown number of deaths. Bulgarian forces also came under fire in Karbala.

At least 11 Iraqis were killed overnight by blasts in Sadr City, a mostly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad that saw some of the fiercest fighting Sunday between militiamen and U.S. troops.

Since Sunday, al-Sadr was in the main mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, poretcted by armed militiamen. But a top aide, Sheik Qays al-Khaz'ali, said Tuesday that al-Sadr had moved to his main office, in the nearby city of Najaf.

On Tuesday, dozens of heavily armed militiamen were outside the Najaf office, located in a small alley near Shiism's holiest site, the golden-domed shrine of Imam Ali. The black-garbed gunmen, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, crowded the narrow alley and roamed nearby streets.

There was no way to confirm reports that al-Sadr was inside.

Asked if al-Sadr will resist if U.S. forces come to arrest him, al-Khaz'ali replied: ``God forbid if this happens, al-Sayed will win martyrdom'' _ referring to al-Sadr by an Arabic title meaning ``master.''

Al-Khaz'ali quoted al-Sadr as saying, ``My fate will be either assassination or arrested.''

A move from Kufa to Najaf would be an unusual move. Al-Sadr is widely unpopular in Najaf, where most Shiites support older, more moderate clerics. By contrast, his al-Mahdi Army has been in virtual control of Kufa since Sunday, holding the police station and patrolling the streets. The main mosque in Kufa has high, fortresslike walls.

In a statement released earlier by his office, al-Sadr said he was moving to avoid bloodshed in the Kufa mosque. ``I feared that the sanctity of a glorious and esteemed mosque would be violated by scum and evil people,'' he said. The Americans ``will have no qualms to embark on such actions.''

``I have pledged not to allow a drop of blood to be shed except my own,'' al-Sadr said. ``I'm prepared to have my own blood shed for what is holy to me.''

He also denounced U.S. President George W. Bush, who said Monday that al-Sadr aimed at wrecking democracy in Iraq.

``I would like to direct my words to the father of evil, Bush,'' al-Sadr said. ``Who is against democracy? Is it the one who calls for peaceful resistance or the one who bombs people, sheds their blood and leads them away from the leaders under feeble and dirty pretexts?''

The confrontation with al-Sadr could increase tensions with Iraq's Shiite majority. However, many Shiites see al-Sadr as a renegade because of his youth and volatility and look to older, more moderate clerics for leadership. U.S. officials appear to be hoping Shiites won't rally around him in a crackdown.

The arrest warrant was issued on charges al-Sadr was involved in the slaying of a rival cleric last year.

The arrest of an aide to al-Sadr last week on the same charges prompted widespread protests by al-Sadr supporters that turned into heavy gunbattles in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City and outside Najaf.