US 'destroys Al-sadr Office'

A US aircraft last night destroyed a Baghdad office of the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, killing two people and injuring six others, Mr Sadr's followers claimed today.

There was no verification of the claims from US commanders, but Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, a spokesman for Mr Sadr, said the attack had taken place around midnight last night. He said that, at the same time as the air strike, US troops had opened fire from nearby streets, destroying a car and a house.

He added that he did not know whether the casualties were al-Sadr fighters, or whether they had been killed during the air strike or ground fire.

The office was located in the Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City, an area named after Mr Sadr's father, a prominent Shia cleric who was murdered by Saddam Hussein's regime.

Today, the office lay in ruins. It had been one of Mr Sadr's two main offices in the area, in which he enjoys strong support, especially from young and impoverished Iraqis.

US commanders have vowed to kill or capture Mr Sadr, who they blame for inciting a recent Shia insurgency. For weeks, the cleric has been holed up in the holy city of Najaf, around 100 miles south of Baghdad.

The coalition has called on Mr Sadr to disband his 10,000-strong Mahdi army militia after an Iraqi judge issued an arrest warrant for him in connection with the killing of a moderate religious leader in Najaf last year.

The US command in Baghdad said it had received no reports of an air attack on Sadr City. However, a statement said US troops yesterday clashed with "numerous anti-Iraqi forces" in Sadr City, killing 19 of them in separate engagements.

"All 19 insurgent casualties carried rocket-propelled grenade launchers," the statement said. One US Bradley fighting vehicle was hit by a grenade, but there were no US casualties.

Meanwhile, US marines were today back inside the flashpoint city of Falluja for the first time in more than a month.

They were starting joint patrols with Iraqi security forces under the agreement that ended the recent siege of the city. A convoy of 12 armoured vehicles brought US commanders to the mayor's office for talks with local leaders.

"It is a good day for peace in Falluja," Marine Major General James Mattis, speaking after the meeting, said. "Nobody shoots, everybody waves and smiles. Any day that there is no shooting, it is good."

Marines began the siege of Falluja, which is 32 miles west of Baghdad, on April 5 after the killing of four US civilian contractors.

Ten marines and several hundred Iraqis were killed before the siege was lifted in an agreement that provided for the US to pull back their troops and transfer primary security responsibility to an Iraqi force led by officers from Saddam's military.

The Falluja brigade was expected to number around 1,500 fighters, many of them soldiers from the former Iraqi army who live in the area. US officials acknowledged that some may have fought marines during the Falluja siege.

Elsewhere, a gunman today opened fire on a vehicle in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, killing an Iraqi driver, a South African and a New Zealander.

Kirkuk's head of Iraqi security forces, Major General Anwar Mohammed Amin, said the group had been travelling towards the centre of the city when their car was attacked.

Police chief Torhan Abdel Rahman Yusuf said the two foreigners had been working on a construction project in the city.