Rebels Launch an Array of Attacks Across Iraq

Rebels Launch an Array of Attacks Across Iraq
By Edward Wong
New York Times

Wednesday 09 June 2004

Baghdad, Iraq - Insurgents staged attacks on American forces and their
allies on several fronts today, firing mortars at Iraqi militiamen west of
here, setting two critical oil pipelines in the north ablaze and ambushing
a military convoy in the c apital.

In the holy city of Najaf, in the south, fighters loyal to the rebel
Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr moved to seize a police station tonight
despite a declared cease-fire, the second such attack in two days.

Today, the cleric's militia, the Mahdi Army, still controlled the holiest
Shiite site in Iraq, the golden-domed Shrine of Ali. An aide to Mr. Sadr
asserted that officials linked to the militia would have the right to take
part in future elections despite a recent order from the American
administration saying otherwise.

The various assaults underscored the fact that the United States was still
engaged in a wide-ranging war, one that American officials say will likely
get worse as the White House tries to return some measure of sovereignty
to Iraqis on June 30.