We'll kick out Brits says cleric

AN INFLUENTIAL Muslim cleric yesterday called for a "holy" uprising to kick British and US troops out of Iraq.

Sheik Muqtader Sadr, son of one of the country's most revered holy men, has warned Coalition forces he has the support of growing numbers of Muslims.

Sadr, who preached to more than 10,000 supporters in a huge mosque in a Baghdad suburb, branded the recently-formed Iraqi Governing Council "a puppet of America".

In an earlier speech in the southern town of Kufa, Sadr also invited young Iraqis to join his "Al Mahdi Holy Army" to rid Iraq of the "American infidels".

The cleric, who has close links to fundamentalist clergy in Iran, has tapped into rising anger in mainly poor Shiite areas both in Baghdad and also in Basra where British troops are based.

BRITISH soldiers yesterday arrested four Iraqis in connection with the ambulance ambush death of UK Captain David Jones.

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