US forces in Iraq have revealed that an arrest warrant is in force against Shia radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr in connection with the murder of a rival cleric.
Sadr's supporters launched a wave of protests across Iraq over the weekend.
The arrest warrant was determined by the Iraqi judge investigating last April's murder of Abdel Majid al-Khoei, a pro-Western cleric who was stabbed inside a holy shrine in Najaf.
President George W Bush said the US will not let mounting violence in Iraq affect the campaign to establish democracy in the country, saying, 'We will not be shaken by the thugs and terrorists'.
US troops backed by helicopters were fighting Shia radicals in Baghdad today, and have launched an operation in the Sunni town of Fallujah, a day after clashes left more than 50 dead.
Earlier, the US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, described the cleric as an outlaw. Al-Sadr is an outspoken opponent of the US-led occupation and his followers have staged a number of large demonstrations in recent days.
In the southern city of Basra, his supporters have occupied the governor's house.
In another development, it is reported that several people were killed and wounded in fighting between American soldiers and insurgents in the town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
Bush firm on transfer deadline
The US President insisted today that 30 June remains the 'firm' date for the transfer of power in Iraq by the US-led coalition.
Last night, senior Congressional figures in Washington had said the deadline for handing sovereignty to the Iraqi people might have to be extended because of the deteriorating security situation.
Richard Lugar, the Republican chairman of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the coalition was running the danger of ending up with a civil war in Iraq.
The administration is, however, looking for a legal way to keep troops in Iraq for at least two more years and to keep the new Iraqi army which it is training under US command.
The administration believes that extending the deadline would send the wrong signal and invite more violence.
