Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has defied demands from Iraq's interim government that his militia pull out of Najaf, after days of fierce clashes with US marines.
Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
Heavily armed American troops backed by aircraft tightened their noose around the holy city in heavy battles today, but a senior US military official denied coalition forces were hunting the cleric.
Sadr thundered defiance during a news conference at Najaf's holiest shrine, the Imam Ali mosque.
"The Mehdi Army and I will keep resisting. I will stay in holy Najaf and will never leave," Sadr said. "I will stay here until my last drop of blood."
The fresh Shi'ite uprising poses the most serious test yet for interim Prime Minister Mr Iyad Allawi since he took over from US-led occupiers on June 28th.
The US military official said marines had killed at least 360 loyalists from Sadr's Mehdi Army militia since the uprising in Najaf erupted on Thursday.
As well as the bloody battles in Najaf, fighting in other cities has killed dozens in recent days.
In the southern city of Basra, British troops fought street gunbattles with Mehdi Army militiamen, who set fire to two British military Land Rovers. Five British soldiers were wounded.
A military spokeswoman said Iraq's second largest city and southern oil production centre was "extremely tense".