Iraqi troops surround al-Sadr office

Iraqi forces have surrounded an office of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf in preparation to storm it while in the latest attack in Baghdad, one Iraqi was killed and several others injured.

Members of the Iraqi national guard have surrounded an al-Sadr office in Najaf in preparation to storm it on Monday, Aljazeera has learnt.

Al-Sadr office officials said Shia cleric Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani must give his approval before Iraqi forces may enter the office.

A spokesman for the al-Sadr office in Nasiriya told Aljazeera that a meeting is under way at al-Sistani’s office with the Najaf governor, representatives of the Supreme Council and al-Sadr himself.

"The meeting is a closed session," spokesman Aws al-Khafaji said.

The Imam Ali shrine in Najaf was the site of a recent tense three-week deadlock between al-Sadr supporters and Shia Muslims inside the complex and Iraqi and US forces surrounding it. Clashes left many dead.

Meanwhile, a mortar bomb exploded in the al-Adhamiya neighbourhood in Baghdad, leaving one person dead and seven others injured, medical sources told Aljazeera.

At the same time, a series of explosions rocked central Baghdad on Monday. Puffs of white smoke rose near the Green Zone, the headquarters of the US embassy and Iraq’s interim government.

US casualties

In the al-Saqlawiya area north-east of Falluja, two US military vehicles were damaged in two explosions. Aljazeera learnt that US soldiers were seen removing casualties after cordoning off the explosion site.

On Sunday night, two US soldiers were killed and 16 wounded in a mortar attack near Baghdad, the American military said in a statement.

"Two 13th Corps Support Command soldiers are dead and 16 are injured as the result of a mortar attack on a multinational force base near Baghdad around 6pm (1400 GMT)," it said, adding that one wounded soldier was in serious condition.

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