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By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

KUFA, Iraq - A radical Shiite cleric sought by U.S. forces said Tuesday he left the fortress-like mosque where he has been holed up for days, surrounded by armed supporters. Muqtada al-Sadr, in a statement released by his office, did not say where he had gone.

The United States declared al-Sadr 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.

Al-Sadr supporters clashed Tuesday with British troops in the southern city of Amarah, and witnesses reported seeing Iraqis killed in the fight. British officials had no immediate comment.

Since Sunday, al-Sadr was in the main mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, with dozens of militiamen outside vowing to resist any U.S. attempt to arrest him. But in a statement released by his office in the nearby city of Najaf, al-Sadr said he had left the mosque, fearing it would be damaged in an assault.

"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."

Al-Sadr did not say in the statement where he had gone, but he took a defiant tone, saying he was willing to "shed my own blood" for Iraq and denouncing President 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?"

Al-Sadr, a fiery 30-year-old cleric, frequently denounces the U.S. occupation in his sermons and has built up his own militia, the al-Mahdi Army, though he has avoided calling for attacks on U.S. troops.

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.