Iraq’s sectarian conflict has escalated with the killing of a top aide to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The aide, Riyadh al-Nouri, was killed Friday in Najaf. No group has claimed responsibility. Al-Nouri was Sadr’s top negotiator with the Iraqi government and also his brother-in-law. Hundreds of Sadr followers crowded Najaf’s cemetery on Saturday, blaming the US for al-Nouri’s death.

Meanwhile, US and Iraqi forces continue their attacks on Shiite fighters in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. Witnesses say a series of clashes this weekend marked the heaviest fighting since the crackdown began late last month. In Baghdad Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators turned out in Baghdad to protest the US occupation. Sheikh Abu Talib al-Amin of the Iraqi Farmers Organization condemned ongoing attacks on Iraqi civilians.

Sheikh Abu Talib al-Amin: “The Iraqi people were expecting good things and reformation when the US forces invaded Iraq. We thought that they would solve all the troubles that we suffered from. Now, we can see different things. When they impose a blockade on an area, killing its people, that means that they are not going to give a chance to oppressed people to express their opinions.”