Another Shiite Cleric Assassinated

Above: Riyadh al-Nouri assasinated

Riyadh al-Nouri, director of al-Sadr’s office in Najaf, was assassinated by yet an unknown number of gunmen near his home.

Muqtada al-Sadr blamed the Americans and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government for the killing.

In his statement Friday, al-Sadr blamed the killing on “the hands of the occupiers and their stooges reaching out traitorously and aggressively against our dear martyr.”

But ironically, the Shiite leader called for calm.

“I call upon Sadrist followers to be patient.”

Iraq Fighting Spills Oil

Above: The Mahdi Army has taken control of Basra.

Crude oil prices rose to $107.58 a barrel (up 1.68) in New York, after a pipeline explosion in Iraq cut one of the main supplies to the country’s main oil export terminal. The Zubair-1 pipeline is one of two that transport oil to the Basra terminal.

Although the Iraqi oil ministry is still not certain as to what caused the explosion, they pretty much have a concrete idea. The ongoing clashes in the area between Iraqi forces and Muqtada al-Sadr militants (shown in picture above) are now on its third straight day. Muqtada al-Sadr is one of the most influential Shiite clerics and political figures in Iraq. He is known to be anti-US. His Mahdi Army has just taken Basra hostage; possibly smuggling oil themselves to fund their cause.