April 5, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An Iraqi judge has issued a murder arrest warrant for a radical Shiite Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, for the slaying of another Shiite leader, coalition officials said Monday.

Coalition spokesman Dan Senor announced the warrant and said it was served "in the last several months" but would not say when al-Sadr would be detained.

"There'll be no advance warning," he said, who refused to say why al-Sadr had not been arrested earlier.

A U.S. commander said al-Sadr is "free to surrender" -- and that if he does, he'll be treated with dignity and respect.

Al-Sadr and his supporters were responsible Sunday for some of the worst violence since the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Al-Sadr is suspected of killing a rival cleric in front of a holy site.

Supporters of al-Sadr have been rioting in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. The fighting has killed at least 52 Iraqis, eight U.S. troops and a Salvadoran soldier.

A total of 25 arrest warrants have been issued in the case, and 13 suspects have been taken into custody. Sunday's violence in Baghdad and other cities was sparked by the arrest last week of Mustafa al-Yacoubi, a senior aide to al-Sadr, on one of the warrants.

Clashes with al-Sadr's militiamen left seven American soldiers dead in Baghdad. Two dozen people were killed in a violent protest in Najaf, including an American.

Since the violence, al-Sadr has been holed up in a mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, surrounded by armed supporters. He has called for an end to street protests.

President George W. Bush addressed the development while taking reporters' questions during a trip to North Carolina.

"With Sadr, this is one person who doesn't want democracy to flourish, he wants to use force," Bush said.

Bush reiterated coalition officials assertions the past few days that despite the violence, the June 30 deadline for the coalition authority to hand over power to Iraqis still holds.

"The deadline remains firm," Bush told reporters.

Earlier Monday, L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, declared al-Sadr an "outlaw."

Doug Brand, a special security officer for the coalition authority, announced that al-Yacoubi, has been charged with "complicity" in the murder of the rival cleric.

Brand said al-Yacoubi was detained over the weekend, although the warrant for his arrest was issued last fall.

Another American has died in the Fallujah area, even as coalition forces tighten control and regulations in the tense Iraqi city.

A U-S commander said a Marine was killed in fighting in the area Monday. The military is giving no other details, including exactly where the incident took place.

The death came as U.S. and Iraqi forces began to surround Fallujah and are setting up restrictions for residents there.

Iraqi police are dropping off fliers that tell residents to stay inside from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. The documents also say citizens shouldn't gather in groups or carry weapons. Streets on the outskirts of the city are mostly deserted.

Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops have surrounded the city with tanks, trucks and other vehicles, ahead of a major raid targeting insurgents following the brutal killing of four American civilians in the city last week.

A Marine officer said U.S. forces have a list of targets, but he didn't give details.

A witness said a U.S. helicopter attacked a residential area in the city, killing several people and damaging some homes. Another witness said there was shooting near one of the U.S. barricades on a road out of Fallujah, and that some Iraqis who were trying to leave the city were hit.

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