BAGHDAD — It started as a dispute at a checkpoint in the southern city of Najaf. It led to a showdown Friday between rival Shiite militias, with mortar rounds lobbed, guns fired and rumors flying that an aide to radical cleric Muqtada Sadr had been assassinated.
Nobody was killed in the incident, which sent ripples of unrest from Najaf to as far as Baghdad's Sadr City, 100 miles to the north, but the rapid escalation of rage underscored the potential for open conflict between two of Iraq's most powerful Shiite forces: Sadr's Al Mahdi militia and the rival Badr Organization. Both militias are tied to political groups that are vying for dominance among Iraq's Shiite majority.
The flare-up came on the weekly Muslim day of rest, which is normally relatively peaceful. But it proved volatile for Iraqis as well as U.S. troops.
Across the country, at least 14 Iraqis died in bombings and mortar attacks. In the most serious incident, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in southwest Baghdad killed five officers.
The U.S. military Friday reported the deaths of five American troops, bringing to at least 3,363 the number of U.S. forces killed since the March 2003 invasion, according to the website icasualties.org, which monitors war-related casualties.
The unrest in Najaf began when Sheik Salah Ubaidi, one of Sadr's top aides, was stopped at a police checkpoint. Most police in the city are linked to the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, the country's biggest Shiite political party.
At a news conference later, an indignant Ubaidi said the officers had refused to let him pass, even after he showed them his identification papers and explained that he was going to be late for Friday prayers. When they confiscated his ID, Ubaidi said, he angrily drove past the checkpoint, only to be blocked at another one.
"The next checkpoint intercepted me and opened fire in the air as they tried to force me out of the car," he said. "One of the officers yelled at me."
More yelling ensued, tempers flared, and soon Al Mahdi militiamen were on the streets of Najaf, carrying assault rifles and grenade launchers.
In the roughly 90 minutes Ubaidi was detained at the checkpoint, unable to contact family and associates, rumors spread that he had been assassinated.
