Cleric vows to drive out ‘discredited’ US forces

IRAQI Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday defied American troops closing in on his militia army, vowing in a sermon to drive out an army he said was discredited by prisoner abuse.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross, in a rare break with practice, disclosed it warned Washington months ago that US troops had beaten and even killed Iraqis in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison and that these were not exceptional cases.

Sporadic fighting in the holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala left around 20 people dead after US troops made their boldest move yet against the month-old insurgency by the cleric's Mehdi Army. However, there was no sign of them rushing to make good on a pledge to capture or kill its leader. Instead, the Americans kept a low profile to allow Sadr to preach at his usual mosque.

“We won’t allow you to control us. You will be forced out sooner or later,” he said in front of thousands of chanting supporters in the heavily guarded mosque at Kufa, 110 miles south of the capital Baghdad.

“You get your soldiers to beat prisoners with their guns. What kind of justice is that? What kind of humanity?” he declared, alluding to the political storm in Washington over the murder and torture of Iraqis in US-run jails.

Sadr also scoffed at an apology offered by US President George W Bush and demanded those responsible be tried in Iraqi courts.

Going to the heart of Arab complaints about US power in the region, Sadr accused the US of hypocrisy in ousting Saddam Hussein for abuse of human rights and then failing to ensure it respected those rights.

Meanwhile, rebel forces fired mortars at the Najaf governor’s mansion, seized by US forces on Thursday to install a new governor. American troops killed about 12 Iraqis when they responded to other firing.

In Kerbala, where US forces have established a muscular presence this week, eight Iraqis were reported killed during running gun battles between rebel forces and troops. Some of the dead appeared to be civilians.

The Mehdi Army could yet unsettle US forces, but burgeoning American co-operation with Iraqi leaders expected to run an interim government after July has given Washington some good news since lurid photographs exposed the abuse scandal.