Al-Sadr's Basra Aide Offers Rewards

[DC09]

BASRA, Iraq - A senior aide of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told worshippers during a Friday sermon in southern Iraq that anyone capturing a female British soldier can keep her as a slave.

The aide, Sheik Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, also called on supporters to launch jihad, or holy war, against British troops in this southern city.

He offered money to anyone capturing or killing a member of the Governing Council, the widely unpopular interim administration appointed by the U.S.-led occupation 10 months ago.

Al-Bahadli, al-Sadr's chief representative in southern Iraq, spoke at al-Hawi mosque in central Basra.

It was the first time any anti-occupation activist of note publicly offered financial reward for the killing or capturing of coalition troops.

That offer likely will be viewed by occupation authorities with concern at a time of rising anti-occupation sentiment and continuing fighting between al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia and U.S. forces in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

A wave of kidnappings last month saw scores of foreign nationals snatched by insurgents and shadowy groups across Iraq.

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