Moqtada al-Sadr's militia was yesterday in control of the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala, as the radical cleric sought the help of other clerics to back his uprising against the US-led coalition. In Nasuriya, violent clashes between Italian troops and militia left 15 Iraqis dead.
"Al-Sadr demands the withdrawal of all coalition forces from Iraq or face destruction," said Qasi al-Khazali, Sheikh al-Sadr's representative in Najaf.
At an earlier press conference in Najaf, Sheikh al-Sadr's office called on Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani to lend his weight to the insurrection as the spiritual head of Iraq's Shia. "I will give Najaf to Sistani on a golden platter if he will accept the capital of the Mahdi," read Sheikh al-Sadr's statement.
In Nassuriya, his office threatened more bloodshed if Italian troops did not leave the city.
Ayatollah Sistani's office yesterday issued no comment, although both parties were understood to be in negotiations.
A moderate, Ayatollah Sistani, has not favoured violence, using instead his immense support to change the US-led political process. His office has previously said they do not agree with Sheikh al-Sadr's approach.
Six months before, when Sheikh al-Sadr last surfaced to declare himself leader in waiting, the country's Shia greeted him with a mixture of bemusement and distrust.
Since Sheikh al-Sadr's revolt began in Baghdad over the weekend, the major cities in southern Iraq have taken on an air of expectancy. Najaf and Kufa are focal points for the rebellion.
Yesterday both cities were under armed guard, with black-shirted militia men patrolling their outskirts.
No Spanish troops - nominally in charge of the area's security - have entered either city for two days.
At the central mosque in Kufa, where Sheikh al-Sadr was stationed until this morning, black-shirted gunmen had gathered.
Kufa is Sheikh al-Sadr's stronghold in the south, where his revered father Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr gave his Friday sermon before being assassinated by Saddam in 1998.
The seizure of the city by his son leant a triumphant mood to mosque-goers.
Iranian pilgrims watched bewildered as rocket-propelled grenades were carried to and from the mosque.
In the holy city of Najaf, however, the crowds were tense.
At the Imam Ali mosque, one of the holiest shrines in the Shia world, an evening sermon by one of Sheikh al-Sadr's clerics declared unending war against the Americans.