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Fri - May 28 -

ATTEMPTED WHACK: A moderate Iraqi Shiite cleric associated with the Sistani faction escaped an assassination attempt in Najaf.

Sheikh Saddredin al-Kubbanji's car came under a burst of gunfire after he delivered a sermon at the Imam Ali mausoleum shrine, which is largely controlled by the Sadr militia, an AFP correspondent reported Friday.

"Moqtada and his people have killed Abdul Majid al-Khoei and now they want to kill the rest of our leaders," said a bystander in the shrine, referring to the cleric who was murdered in the mausoleum in April 2003.

"They are a bunch of terrorists and bandits."

:: AFP/Yahoo! News

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