Prominent Iraqi Shiite Cleric Detained: al-Jazeera TV

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Prominent Iraqi Shiite Cleric Detained: al-Jazeera TV

Ayatollah Mohamed Taqi Al-Madrsi, a prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric, was detained near the central Iraqi city of Karbala Tuesday evening, al-Jazeera TV channel reported.

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Ayatollah Mohamed Taqi Al-Madrsi, a prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric, was detained near the central Iraqi city of Karbala Tuesday evening, al-Jazeera TV channel reported.

Al-Madrsi's convoy was stopped at one checkpoint near Karbala and then checked by unidentified men, believed to belong to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) or US troops, the TV report said.

Sixty followers of the cleric's were also detained, it added.

Al-Madrsi has just come back from Iran, where he has been exiledfor 32 years, to go for pilgrimage in Karbala.

In the meantime, Al-Hawza Al-Ilmiya, an Iraqi Shiite institution, was making contacts with US troops to determine Al-Madrsi's fate.

Iraqi Shiite leaders have expressed fear that Washington might turn Iraq into a base to promote its interests and those of Israel,at the expense of Arab and Muslim states, including Syria and Iran.

Two main Shiite clerics in Iraq, Sayyed Ali Sistani and Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr, said on Monday that the withdrawal of US forces should be secured by peaceful means.

US troops thrust into the heart of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on April 9, thus putting an end to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's24-year rule.

Defying international opposition, the United States and Britain launched a war against Iraq on March 20 in a bid to topple Saddam.

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