Clashes Near Holy Iraq City [Kufa], Rebel Cleric Defiant

[pinto]

By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

KUFA, Iraq (Reuters) - Blasts shook Iraq's holy Shi'ite town of Kufa on Friday after militiamen loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said they ambushed a convoy of vehicles from an American force that is building up nearby.

"I saw at least two Humvees on fire and we also attacked armored personnel carriers," said one fighter in the town adjacent to Najaf, home to the holiest Shi'ite shrines and where Sadr has been hiding from U.S. forces ordered to kill or capture him.

"We attacked them again, but then they started mortaring our position so we had to retreat," said the man, clad in the black uniform of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, as columns of smoke rose above the town and militiamen tried to evacuate at least two wounded colleagues across a bridge.

Defiant at Friday prayers in Kufa, Sadr said he would not disband his militia under any circumstances "because I did not create it on my own but with the cooperation of the Iraqi people."


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4850084§ion=news

[Sinistrous]

1. Does anyone know what qualifies a city to be named "holy"?

And how many cities are deemed thus?

[Gin]

2. I'm in Virginia Beach and we have Pat Robertson....and the 700 club

that in itself makes this a "holy" city....just ask him.

[David__77]

3. So Sadr won't disarm Iraqis.

It's interesting how the Republicans oppose gun rights in Iraq.

[teryang]

4. Saw a professor from UM on cable last night

...he said if the American forces actually capture or kill Al Sadr it's going to be a bloody mess. He seemed to be assuming that the PR diaster to follow such an effort was so evident and predictable that he felt the American's avowed goal was just a negotiating position.