Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Rick Faurot]

Shiite Gunmen Rampage in Two Iraqi Cities
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040508/a...
By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer

NAJAF, Iraq - Gunmen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rampaged through Basra and another southern Iraq (news - web sites) city, attacking British patrols and government buildings a day after an al-Sadr aide offered worshippers money for capturing or killing coalition soldiers.

The aide, Sheik Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, offered the rewards in response to the mistreatment and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards — a sign that the abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison was spilling over into the confrontation between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia.

<more>