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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A prominent Shi'ite, whose arrest by U.S.-led coalition forces stoked violent protests across Iraq (news - web sites), is in Iraqi custody and will be tried for complicity in the murder of a top cleric last year.   Interior Ministry officials said Monday that an Iraqi judge had issued a warrant for the arrest of Mustapha Yacoubi, an aide to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, last autumn. "Yacoubi is in Iraqi police custody charged with complicity in the murder of Ayatollah Abdul Majid al-Khoei, one of Iraq's leading advocates for human rights," said Deputy Chief Constable...

<p>NAJAF, Iraq — Supporters of an anti-American cleric rioted in four Iraqi cities Sunday, killing eight U.S. troops and one Salvadoran soldier in the worst unrest since the spasm of looting and arson immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein.</p>

KUFA, Iraq (Reuters) - Spanish-led troops and Iraqi police fought a three-hour gun battle with Shi'ite militiamen near Najaf that left 20 Iraqis and four Salvadoran soldiers dead on Sunday, witnesses and medical officials said. In Baghdad, clashes between U.S. soldiers and Shi'ites killed at least one Iraqi and wounded many. As night fell, fighting continued in the poor Sadr City district as locals set two Humvees ablaze and hid behind walls waiting to fire rockets. The shooting in Kufa, near Najaf, began after protesting militiamen marched on a Spanish-run military base to denounce the arrest of an aide to...

WITH the United States planning to surrender political power to Iraqis by the end of June, Washington can little afford a new front in the increasingly violent battle to pacify the country. Closing al-Hawza, the weekly newspaper of the zealously anti-US Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, threatens to open one. Mr Sadr had faded in recent months while the spotlight was on leading moderate Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. In closing down Mr Sadr’s newspaper, the US has revived a fierce political opponent who is much more militant than Ayatollah Sistani. The cleric’s supporters are well-organised and led by young, motivated...

Last Update: Sunday, April 4, 2004. 6:01am (AEST) US tanks crush Iraqi protesters: police At least two followers of Shiite Muslim radical leader Moqtada Sadr have been killed after throwing themselves in front of US tanks during a demonstration in central Baghdad. "There were two or three dead among the protestors who threw themselves under American tanks, which could not avoid them on Tahrir square," said Sergeant Abbas Mohamad. The report could not immediately be confirmed by police headquarters or the US-led coalition. Earlier, as the protestors marched down Baghdad's main commercial thoroughfare towards the square, an AFP correspondent saw...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 4 (UPI) -- A demonstration in the southern city of Najaf turned deadly as Salvadoran soldiers -- under Spanish command -- exchanged fire with supporters of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the city of Najaf. Reports from the scene indicate that at least 19 protesters and 4 coalition troops were killed. The violent clash has left much of the Shiite sections of Iraq in near chaos. This represents the most serious clashes between coalition forces and the Shiite population. Previous large scale fighting has usually occurred between coalition forces and Sunni population, from which more militant members...

World News » Iraqi boys run past a burning US Army Humvee Time is GMT + 8 hoursPosted: 05 April 2004 0323 hrs 28 killed in Shiite clashes with coalition troops around Iraq NAJAF, Iraq : At least 28 people were killed, including four Salvadoran soldiers, and 200 people wounded as backers of a radical Shiite leader clashed with troops of the US-led coalition in Iraq. The deadliest confrontation took place outside the shrine city of Najaf pitting supporters of firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr against Spanish-led troops. At least 24 people were killed, including the Salvadorans. Advertisement Other clashes...

At least 20 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in clashes between Spanish-led troops and Iraqi demonstrators in the city of Najaf. One soldier from El Salvador and one from the US were reportedly killed in the firefight, which broke out when Shia protesters marched on their base. The crowd were protesting in support of firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr. The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said protesters had "crossed the line and moved to violence". The BBC's Barbara Plett in Baghdad says the clashes marked the most serious confrontation between the occupation forces and members of...

At least 14 Iraqis, including two soldiers, died and 130 people were injured during a protest outside a Spanish military garrison in the southern holy city of Najaf on Sunday, witnesses and a hospital worker said. Two US Marines and three members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in violence elsewhere in Iraq. In Najaf, shooting broke out after thousands of supporters of an anti-American Muslim cleric gathered outside the garrison of the Spanish troops. The Iraqi soldiers were inside the Spanish base, according to witnesses. A spokesman for the Spanish headquarters in nearby Diwaniyah, Commander Carlos Herradon, said...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed and at least 10 wounded in an ambush in a Baghdad neighborhood Sunday, a senior coalition official told CNN.</p> <p>The killings in the Shiite majority Sadr City came on a day that saw deadly clashes between protesters and coalition forces in the holy city of Najaf, fighting in Baghdad and a car bombing in Kirkuk.</p>

Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called upon his followers to begin terrorizing US soldiers and other forces stationed in Iraq, since demonstrations have proven to be futile, reported Israel Radio Sunday evening. The Iraqi Shiite leader made the appeal following reports of 20 Iraqi casualties in demonstrations in the Shiite religious enclave of Najaf. Four Salvadoran coalition soldiers were killed Sunday and 200 people wounded as Spanish-led troops clashed with Sadr followers, hospital sources said. "I ask you not to resort to demonstrations because they have become a losing card and we should seek other ways," Sadr told his followers....

BAGHDAD, April 4 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq confirmed on Sunday it had detained Mustapha Yacoubi, an aide to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in connection with the killing of Shi'ite cleric Abdul Majid al-Khoei last year. Yacoubi's detention stoked anti-American protests by Sadr supporters across the country on Sunday. The largest was near Najaf, where at least 24 people were killed when angry Shi'ite protesters clashed with coalition forces and Iraqi police. Khoei was hacked to death at a Najaf mosque in April, 2003 by a mob which also killed one of his aides. Senior clerics at...

By KHALID MOHAMMED (AP) A demonstrator tries to contain the crowds during an anti-American protest in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday...Full Image   NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Supporters of an anti-American cleric rioted in four Iraqi cities Sunday, killing eight U.S. troops and one Salvadoran soldier in the worst unrest since the spasm of looting and arson immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military on Sunday reported two Marines were killed in a separate "enemy action" in Anbar province, raising the toll of American service members killed in Iraq to at least 610. The rioters were supporters of anti-American...