Iraqi violence leaves 31 dead

At least 22 Iraqis, eight US troops and one Salvadoran soldier died in one of the worst days of violence in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein

Hundreds were wounded as supporters of an anti-US cleric rioted in four Iraqi cities yesterday, including the south-eastern town of Amarah, where protesters clashed with British troops.

Tanks rolled through the Iraqi capital, Baghdad and two Humvees burned in the streets of its eastern Sadr City neighbourhood.

Protesters, some dressed all in black or waving green banners, raced toward the fighting in Najaf as heavy gunfire echoed through the city.

One man stood on a bridge, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher at the ready.

The riots were ignited by the arrest on Saturday of an aide to anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, known to his reverent followers as “al-Sayed” or “Master”.

Mustafa al-Yacoubi, a senior aide to Al-Sadr, was arrested in connection with the murder of Abdel-Majid al-Khoei, a rival Shiite cleric.

The unrest appeared to be a show of force by Al-Sadr, a 30-year-old Shiite cleric backed by an illegal militia and hundreds of young seminary students.

They are devoted to him because of his anti-US stance and the memory of his father, a Shiite religious leader gunned down by suspected Saddam agents in 1999.

Al-Sadr issued a statement later yesterday calling off street protests and saying he would stage a sit-in at a mosque in Kufa, where he has delivered fiery weekly sermons for months.

The explosion of violence will probably place the cleric back under the scrutiny of the US military, which threatened to arrest him six months ago after his militia fought gun battles with US troops and moderate Shiites, who support the coalition.

Yesterday’s violence – along with the unrelated killings of two US Marines in Anbar province – pushed the US death toll to at least 610.

In the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City, a militia loyal to Al-Sadr attacked police stations and government buildings – touching off battles that killed seven US soldiers and wounded at least 24, the US military said.

A resident said some US soldiers had taken refuge in a building. The report could not be independently confirmed, and it was unclear whether the soldiers involved were those who died.

Near Najaf, supporters of Al-Sadr opened fire on the Spanish garrison during a street protest that drew around 5,000 people.

The Spanish and Salvadoran soldiers inside the garrison fired back, and assailants later regrouped in three clusters outside the base as the shooting continued for several hours.

Two soldiers – a Salvadoran and an American – died and at least nine other soldiers were wounded, the Spanish Defence Ministry said.

Twenty-two Iraqis died and more than 200 were wounded, said Falah Mohammed, director of the Najaf health department.

In nearby Kufa, Al-Sadr supporters took over a police station and seized guns inside. No police were in sight.

Militiamen demonstrating against al-Yacoubi’s detention also traded fire with Italian troops in the southern city of Nasiriyah, said Italian Lieutenant Colonel Pierluigi Monteduro. One Italian officer was wounded in the leg.