Shi'ite uprising surprises coalition

ALLIED troops fought bloody battles against an enemy they did not expect in Iraq yesterday Shi'ites who were downtrodden during Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.

Firebrand Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, wanted for murder, urged his followers to go on an anti- American crusade and they heeded his call.

Three British soldiers were injured none seriously in overnight fighting with al-Sadr's followers in the southern town of Amarah. The gun battles left 15 Iraqis dead and eight wounded, said coalition spokesman Wun Hornbyckle.

Fifteen Iraqis were killed and 35 injured in fights with Italian soldiers in Nasiriyah. Twelve Italians were slightly wounded.

Some of al Sadr's al-Mahdi militia kidnapped two South Korean aid workers and demanded the withdrawal of Italian forces in exchange for their release. They were released later but the Italians did not leave.

Coalition spokeswoman Paola Della Casa said the Iraqi attackers used civilians as human shields in the attacks. She said a woman and two children were among the dead.

In the Shi'ite city of Kut, a Ukrainian soldier was killed by al-Sadr supporters. Two Polish and three Bulgarian soldiers were wounded in a shoot-out near the city of Karbala yesterday afternoon.

Clashes have killed 20 US troops and at least 100 Iraqis since the weekend.

US officials have said they will move soon to arrest al-Sadr who vowed to shed his own blood in the drive to oust the US occupation and was surrounded by militiamen pledging to resist any attempt to capture him.

"I'm prepared to have my own blood shed for what is holy to me," he said.

US marines yesterday battled guerrillas on the edge of Fallujah in an operation to crush the insurgency where five US marines and three soldiers were killed over the past two days.

The top US civilian administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer conceded yesterday not all was going smoothly as the coalition approached the June 30 handover date.