US forces detain seven in assault on militia

US forces have captured seven men in a series of raids in Iraq targeting members of the Fedayeen Saddam militia, a spokesman said today.

Five of those now in custody after the operations in Tikrit are suspected of organising attacks on the US-led occupation forces.

Meanwhile, US troops operating south of Baghdad found a huge arms cache containing 400 cases of anti-aircraft shells, the military said.

The weapons were found near Hamurrabi, 60 miles south of the capital, yesterday, said Maj Josslyn Aberle of the US 4th Infantry Division.

Along with the anti-aircraft ammunition were 200 rocket-propelled grenades, 300 artillery fuses and 70 bags of gunpowder, she said.

In the southern city of Najaf today, mourners buried three guards who were killed in yesterday’s bomb attack on the home of Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, one of Iraq’s most important Muslim Shiite clerics.

The bomb, a gas cylinder wired to explode, was placed by the outside wall of the house. Several members of al-Hakim’s family were wounded, and the cleric suffered cuts to his neck.

“Obviously terrorist groups who belong to the former regime are behind this incident,” said Abdel-Aziz Hakim, a relative of the religious leader.

Abdel-Aziz Hakim is also a member of the US-picked Governing Council.