Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr Friday urged his followers to continue to fight US-led coalition forces in Iraq even if he is killed or captured.
"Continue what you have started even if I am killed or arrested," he told the faithful gathered in the mosque in Kufa about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Najaf.
Automatic gunfire and shelling were heard during the sermon and a Sadr aide said shells fell within the perimeter of the mosque after the cleric left.
Sadr asked the highest Shia authority to speak out on the clashes. "I direct myself to you to ask you to take a unified position denouncing (the coalition), as the Hawza of Qom (Iran) did."
Tensions have been rising between Sadr, a young but influential cleric, and the highest Shiite authority in Iraq, the enigmatic and reclusive Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Sistani's office issued a statement Tuesday urging people to protest against any armed presence in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, referring to both coalition forces and the Mehdi Army.
Both men are based in Najaf but Sadr travels every Friday to the Kufa mosque, surrounded by his militiamen, despite the presence of US military in the region.
He thanked those who "have supported the Iraqi people," including the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and expressed hope "other Arabs will do the same".
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