Firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers Wednesday to keep up their weeklong battle with U.S. forces, even if he is killed or captured. "I hope that you keep fighting even if you see me detained or martyred," al-Sadr said in a statement. The statement came after days of clashes between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and coalition forces in a number of Shiite strongholds in Baghdad and southern Iraq. Al-Sadr claims the U.S. military has violated a series of truces that ended a two-month Shiite uprising in early June. He also accused the military of violating holy Shiite shrines in the southern city of Najaf and insisted the U.S. government was still controlling Iraq through the appointed interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. "I thank the dear fighters all over Iraq for what they have done to setback injustice," al-Sadr said. He also warned his followers in the south not to threaten to secede from the rest of the country as a protest to the fighting. Al-Sadr said that "would only serve the interests of the unjust." Al-Sadr also praised all those who have attempted to settle the conflict peacefully.
