Sadr 'will die if he resists'
2004-08-24 14:36
Najaf - Shiite militia leader Moqtada Sadr will be killed or captured if he resists Iraqi troops as they advance on his stronghold in Najaf's Imam Ali shrine, defence minister Hazem al-Shaalan said Tuesday.
"If Moqtada Sadr surrenders, he will be safe and sound.
"If he resists, the only thing for him is death or prison," he told reporters at a US base outside Najaf, as broadcast by Al-Arabiya television.
Separately, Najaf governor Adnan al-Zorfi said Iraq's national guard would "cleanse" the mausoleum - one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines - of rebels after nearly three weeks of fighting.
Dozens of national guardsmen joined US troops around the shrine for the first time earlier on Tuesday, as heavy machine-gun and tank fire pummelled the neighbourhood.
US tanks and armoured cars crawled through the bombed-out streets, just 200m from the shrine, on the 20th day of clashes with Sadr's mehdi army militia.
- AFP