U.S. not sure if Iraqi police were battling militia or criminals. After days of relative quiet, fighting flared overnight in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, resulting in the deaths of five people. The fighting began just before midnight Wednesday when Iraqi police attempted to arrest four suspected thieves. First reports said the fighters appeared to be members of the Mehdi Army militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division, said it could have been tribesmen or criminals. “It was certainly a bunch of armed men, but their motivation and their direction is not yet clear to us,” he said. Full Story
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