US faces Iraqi revolt

Warrant issued for Shia cleric

US seals off Falluja

Worst unrest since Saddam fell

...The US troops moved into Sadr City after militiamen took over five police stations there. By this morning, the militiamen had been forced out of the police stations, and US tanks were parked in the neighbourhood. Another 5,000 of Mr Sadr's supporters marched yesterday on a military base in Kufa, close to Najaf, and shooting broke out. The supporters allegedly opened fire on Spanish troops, sparking a battle that lasted several hours.

Today Falluja was being sealed off as part of a major operation codenamed "Vigilant Resolve", aimed at pacifying the city. Falluja is one of the most violent cities in the Sunni Triangle, the heartland of the insurgency against the American occupation.

The move against Falluja is part of the promised US response to last Wednesday's killings of four American contractors in the city. Insurgents dragged the men's charred bodies through the streets and hanged two of them from bridges. Supported by US armour, some 1,200 marines and two battalions of Iraqi security forces were poised to enter the city.