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Iraqi police impose curfew in holy city of Najaf
NAJAF, Iraq - Iraqi police imposed a curfew in the holy city of Najaf from Wednesday after a patrol clashed with fighters loyal to militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Najaf police chief Ghaleb Hashem al-Jezairi told reporters that residents should stay in their homes between 9 p.m. (1700 GMT) and 6:30 a.m.
Witnesses said shops were closed and Sadr’s Mehdi Army fighters were on the streets in force after the clash with a police patrol that had pursued a criminal into the city.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has said the interim government, which formally took over sovereignty from the United States on Monday, might impose emergency law in parts of the country racked by an insurgency.
Sadr led an uprising against US forces from Najaf some three months ago but, under pressure from Shi’ite leaders, has since agreed to a truce that has seen his militia disappear from the streets and US troops stay outside the city.
Sadr told fighters hailing from outside
Najaf to go home in June but his followers have occasionally clashed with
Iraqi police now in charge of security in Najaf, site of the holiest shrines
in Shi’ite Islam.