Fresh fighting erupts in Najaf

Fresh fighting broke out in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf yesterday, with explosions and gunfire echoing from the heart of holy sites where militiamen loyal to a radical Shi'ite Muslim cleric are dug in.

A Reuters witness said US helicopter gunships pounded positions near the city's ancient Shi'ite cemetery, a haven for fighters from Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army who have been battling American marines for six straight days.

Iraq expects to resume full oil exports today after it shut one of two pipelines feeding the country's southern terminal as a security precaution, a South Oil Company official said.

A larger 48-inch export pipeline was shut on Monday after it was attacked, but the damage was minor and the pipeline should be able to operate normally today along with the smaller pipeline, the official said.

Clashes also erupted in an impoverished Shi'ite Baghdad suburb as militiamen ignored a curfew order from Iraq's interim government, witnesses said.

They said gunfire was heard not long after dawn in the suburb of Sadr City, scene of fierce fighting since Thursday. US tanks and Iraqi national guards were advancing near the area.

The Health Ministry said 10 people were killed and 104 wounded in fighting over a period of 24 hours in the Baghdad area, including Sadr City.

An official said he had no casualty toll from Najaf.

The radical Shi'ite uprising has virtually shut several cities in Iraq, giving Prime Minister Iyad Allawi his sternest test since taking over from US-led occupiers on June 28.

Allawi has ordered Sadr's men to leave Najaf but the young firebrand cleric who appeals to poor Shi'ite youth with his anti-American rhetoric responded with defiance on Monday, saying he would keep resisting and never leave his hometown.

US marines say they have killed 360 of Sadr's loyalists since last Thursday in Najaf, home to the holiest Shi'ite Muslim shrine, some 160 kilometres south of Baghdad.

Sadr's spokesmen say many less have died.

Citing the deterioration of security, the Polish-led multinational division that had been responsible for Najaf has handed command of the area to American forces.

The latest Najaf clashes erupted just after 8 a.m. (0400 GMT) following a night of intermittent gunfire. Marines later broadcast messages through loudspeakers, urging militiamen to surrender.

Battles in other cities have killed dozens in recent days.

In the southern city of Basra, a British military spokesman said the streets were calm after clashes on Monday that killed one British soldier and wounded four others.