World News 13-08-2004 Moqtada al-Sadr Injured In Attack who: Shi`ite cleric Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr what: Injured in US siege of holy city where: Iraq when: Yesterday snippet: "The radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has been wounded in fighting in the holy city of Najaf," reports the BBC. "Mr Sadr is believed to have suffered three separate injuries, but an aide has said his condition is stable." "Al-Sadr, who has led an uprising against coalition and Iraqi troops for more than a week, is said to be hiding in Najaf`s sacred compound housing the Imam Ali shrine, surrounded by his followers," reports The Evening Standard`s website, thisislondon.com. "US marines, backed by aircraft, swooped on Najaf`s city centre earlier in an attempt to end week-long fighting with al-Sadr`s militiamen," says the ITV news website. "But they stayed away from Imam Ali Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shi`ite Islam." "In the eighth day of heavy fighting in Najaf, mortar and gunfire continued in the Najaf cemetery, wounding at least two American soldiers," says The Independent`s Baghdad correspondent, Donald Macintyre. "The US military says hundreds of gunmen of Sadr`s Mehdi Army have died in the fighting. A column of US tanks lined one edge of the Wadi al-Salam cemetery while snipers crawled on the roofs of nearby one-storey buildings to fire at insurgents." The Guardian`s Rory McCarthy reports from inside the Imam Ali shrine itself, where he was allowed to observe the cleric`s most senior lieutenants directing the uprising. "There was no sign at the mosque of Mr Sadr - whose house in another part of Najaf was raided by US forces yesterday," he reports. "He has not been seen since making a public statement at the shrine on Monday." [... more]

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