Al-Mahdi militia threaten attacks on US checkpoints
Najaf (AsiaNews) Today the spokesman for Moqtada Al-Sadr's Al-Mahdi Army, Shiekh Ahmad Al-Shibani, threatened to attack all US army check-points on the road to between Najaf (160 Km south of Baghdad) and Kufa.
"All check-points between Najaf and Kufa are a form of aggression; there can be no barriers placed between Najaf and Kufa, " said Al-Shibani.
The road from Najaf to Kufa is 10 km long and is the route that Moqtada Al-Sadr has taken until now when moving between the two towns.
Militant followers of Imam Al-Sadr were not pleased by the presence of US troops who came to replace the Spanish and Latin-American peacekeeping forces.
Yesterday, US soldiers set up checkpoints along the road and began stopping searching cars along the route.
They also prohibited young persons from entering the Holy Shiite town. An American solider at one checkpoint said the purpose was to "prevent weapons from entering Najaf" around which US forces have deployed 2500 troops.
Yesterday armed fighting occurred between 7 US soldiers on duty at a checkpoint and Al-Sadr militants on their way back from Najaf to Kufa.
Hospital sources in Najaf say the toll stands at 5 Iraqis dead from gun-fire wounds, among whom was a police officer. Meanwhile 20 others have been reported to be seriously wounded, including one woman.
US military sources said the gunfire erupted after 20 missiles were fired upon a Spanish base, now occupied by US forces.
Unconfirmed reports said US troops had penetrated Najaf yesterday afternoon. Others say the Americans reached the center of the town, but then retreated.
The young Imam Moqtada Al-Sadr is once again in Najaf. He has threatened to resort to suicide attacks against American troops should they invade the two Shiite towns of Najaf and Karbala.
The Imam, despite not being an infallible spiritual leader (i.e. a "Marja'a"), has many followers and supporters between the ages of 20-30 and among the residents of the Shiite Al-Sadr district of Baghdad. He is also well liked by the poor, since Moqtada Al-Sadr manages huge sums of money from Shiite charitable organizations.
In June of 2003 Moqtada Al-Sadr created the "Al-Mahdi Army", a band of militants that has been fighting against foreign troops for over a month now. Many analysts as well as Iraqis believe that the fighting was organized as a decoy so that the Imam could flee an order for his capture on charges of killing the pro-American Imam Al-Khoi. (PB)
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