US troops clash with Sadr militia

An Iraqi working for Al-Jazeera TV was killed in Karbala

US troops fought battles with forces of Iraq's radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr in Najaf and elsewhere on Friday.

One person was killed and at least 13 injured in heavy clashes in Najaf - a holy city south of Baghdad.

Gunfire and explosions rocked the city centre close to provincial government buildings, forcing the cancellation of Friday prayers.

But in nearby Kufa, Mr Sadr delivered a sermon calling for his militia to fight on even if he was killed or arrested.

"Don't let me killing or arrest be an excuse to end what you're doing, supporting the truth and standing up to the wrong," Mr Sadr said.

Gunfire and shelling were heard during the sermon, witnesses said.

The fighting in Najaf - Mr Sadr's stronghold - broke out at 1130 (0730GMT). Gunfire was heard around the sacred Imam Ali mausoleum in the city centre as militiamen patrolled the deserted streets.

Correspondents say Mr Sadr's militia are entrenching their positions in Najaf, as the US pushes closer to the centre.

At least one civilian was killed in overnight clashes in the city.

In other developments:

• Coalition forces are holding two people in connection with the beheading of US businessman Nicholas Berg, the US military says. Four people were detained two days ago, but two have since been released.

• The US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council criticises Thursday's raid on the home and offices of one of its leading members and former Washington ally, Ahmad Chalabi.

• Graphic accounts by Iraqi prisoners of abuse at the hands of US soldiers are published in The Washington Post, with fresh images depicting ill-treatment.

• The US begins freeing 472 detainees from Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

• The last Spanish soldiers withdraw from Iraq, fulfilling the government's pledge to pull out.

• In the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, four Iraqi security force members are killed when gunmen open fire on a checkpoint

• Spanish radio journalist Fran Sevilla is taken hostage in Najaf by Mr Sadr's rebels, and later released Spanish national radio reports.

• A body believed to be that of Italian hostage Fabio Quattrocchi, killed by his captors on 14 April, is handed over to the Italian Red Cross in Iraq.

In the early hours of Friday, about a dozen people were killed in clashes in the city of Karbala, north of Najaf, including an Iraqi driver working with a camera crew for Al-Jazeera.

The fighting began when insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at US tanks patrolling the city, the US military said.

The tanks returned fire and heaving fighting continued for two hours, ending before daybreak.

As relative calm returned, the city's main mosque opened for Friday prayers for the first time in weeks of fighting.

US troops have pulled back from the Mukhayam Mosque, which was being used as a base for Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army. US helicopters are continuing to patrolling the skies.

After Friday prayers, hundreds of moderate Iraqis took to the streets demanding that Mr Sadr's forces end their armed uprising, AFP news agency reported.

"Karbala is a city of peace, leave your weapons," some banners said.

The marchers were led by representatives of Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.

In the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, US forces detained 15 supporters of Mr Sadr in a series of raids, including one at the Hussein mosque, US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the top US military spokesman, told reporters.