Al-Sadr followers hand over weapons

FOLLOWERS of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr trickled in to police stations in Baghdad's Sadr City district to hand in weapons yesterday as a suicide car bomb killed at least one US soldier and two Iraqis.

At least 24 people were injured in the blast and subsequent gunfire. After the explosion, insurgents opened fire on the convoy from a nearby mosque, said the military.

Iraqi National Guardsmen searched the mosque and surrounding area, but did not locate the gunmen.

Nine US soldiers were wounded in the attack, six of whom returned to duty, the army said.

Earlier, two US soldiers were killed and five wounded in a rocket attack in southern Baghdad.

Over 1,000 members of the US military have died since US-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003.

Also yesterday, the beheading of two hostages in Iraq - a Kurdish translator and a Turkish contractor - was shown on an Islamist website. Gulf TV station al-Jazeera said the group killed the two men after they "confessed" to having co-operated with US forces.

The station said it would not air the entire beheading video, which it said it had obtained from a website, as it was too gruesome.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the turnover of weapons, checkpoints were set up along the roads to three Sadr City police stations, and Iraqi National Guard members took up positions on rooftops.

At al-Nasr station, police Maj Kadhim Salman said fighters had turned in machine guns, TNT paste, landmines and other explosives. Many of the weapons appeared old and rusted. Nonetheless, the government was hopeful the process would spell the end of the Shi'ite revolt and enable the US and Iraqi allies to shift attention to the more extensive Sunni insurgency.

"Until that process is completed and until Iraqi government itself is satisfied, it is way too early to characterise it as a success," Lieutenant Colonel James Hutton of the US 1st Cavalry Division said.

Fighters are supposed to be compensated for the weapons, but Maj Salman said those responsible for the payments had not yet turned up. Instead, receipts were issued for the arms.

The rates ranged from $5 for a hand grenade to $1,000 for a heavy-calibre machine gun, police said.

Malik Jomaa walked up to the station with a white bag containing two grenade launchers slung over his shoulder.

"God willing, there will be no more fighting and Sadr City will live in peace," the 20-year-old fighter said.

Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army agreed at the weekend to hand in medium and heavy weapons in Sadr City.