Shiites dig in as journalists killed
Gunmen killed two journalists south of Baghdad today, and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric dug in for a confrontation with US troops, clashing with soldiers in two holy cities.
The journalists, a Pole and an Algerian, were shot in their car by gunmen in a passing vehicle near Mahmoudiyah, about 30 20 miles south of Baghdad, said police Lieut Alaa Hussein. A second Pole was wounded in the attack.
Hussein said the journalists worked for a Polish television station but had no additional information.
In Warsaw, Andrzej Siwek, spokesman for Poland’s TVP, said he could not confirm that the network’s employees had been killed but “everything indicates that this unfortunately might be true”.
The Mahmoudiyah region lies on the routes heading from the capital to Najaf and other southern cities and has been the scene of frequent gun attacks on the roads. An American missionary and two CNN employees were killed in February and January in the same area.
In Karbala, US troops skirmished with militiamen loyal to anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, witnesses said. The exchange began when a roadside bomb hit a US patrol, damaging three vehicles, prompting a clash between gunmen and troops, the witnesses said.
Al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army militia was out in force in Kufa and Najaf today, fearing a US assault to capture al-Sadr could be imminent. Militiamen and US troops had a fierce mortar exchange overnight.
Fighters – draped with ammunition belts and carrying automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers – moved around the streets of the two cities in large numbers and took positions behind earthen mounds and behind buildings.
“We will fight until the last drop of our blood,” said one fighter, Dhia Shami, behind a dirt barricade.
An audio recording attributed to Osama bin Laden offered rewards in gold for the killing of top US and UN officials in Iraq or of the citizens of any nation fighting there.
The 20-minute recording appeared on two web sites known for militant Islamic messages. The voice sounded like that of bin Laden, but the authenticity of the recording could not immediately be verified.
