Iraqi cleric's open war vow 'aimed at foreign troops'

Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said today that his threat to unleash an “open war” unless a crackdown against his Mahdi Army militia is ended applied only to foreign troops, not Iraqis.

In a sermon read by an aide during prayers in Baghdad’s militia stronghold of Sadr City, the Shiite cleric also urged Iraqi soldiers and policemen “not to support the occupiers in combating your brothers.”