Captured US soldier put on show

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric warned coalition forces against entering the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf to capture a radical cleric wanted for murder as US troops and Shiite militiamen fought in the south. Thirteen Iraqis died in clashes in the north and south.

Videotape broadcast yesterday showed a captive US soldier flanked by masked gunmen with automatic rifles, the first US serviceman confirmed kidnapped in Iraq since the declared end of war.