SHIITE Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militiamen have risen up against the US-led coalition, is wanted for the killing of a rival last year and for questioning in another murder case, a legal adviser to the US-led coalition said today. Sadr is wanted for the April 10, 2003 assassination of rival cleric Abdel Majid al-Khoei, who was stabbed to death in the central Shiite holy city of Najaf, along with two other people. He is also wanted for questioning over the deaths four months ago of three people, including a pregnant woman, who went to a hospital in Najaf in a taxi, the source said. In a third case, Sadr is accused of confiscating the "khoms", or donations of worshippers to mosques and shrines in the south, which were worth a few hundred dollars.
| Skimming the donations to the poor. |
The coalition official said an arrest warrant was signed and delivered by an Iraqi judge in August. |