DUBAI, Feb 20: Several people have been killed and wounded in riots that erupted in Baghdad following the assassination of a leading shiite Muslim cleric, CNN reported today. Eyewitnesses told the network that demonstrators clashed with heavily armed government forces in Saddam city, a mainly shiite suburb of the Iraqi capital.Iraqi authorities have barred journalists from the area.The violence followed the murder of Ayatollah Mohammad Sadek al-Sadr and his two sons overnight Thursday.The cleric and his sons "were victims of an abominable crime in the night of February 18 to 19," said a spokesman for the Information and Culture ministry quoted by the official INA news agency.INA said ``the specialised authorities have apprehended some of the assailants and are still chasing the rest of the criminals.'' It did not elaborate.State run television and radio interrupted their programmes to announce Al-Sader's death. It was not clear what the motive was or who could be the assailants.It is notknown why authorities delayed announcing his death for two days. INA also did not say where the attack on Al-Sader took place.
