Iraqi cleric threatens 'open war'

Apr. 20 - Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is threatenening to wage 'open war' against the Iraqi government and U.S. forces if military opearations against his Mehdi militia continue.

The U.S. military says 20 Sh'ite militia were killed in overnight clashes between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and the Mehdi Army in Sadr City, the militia's Baghdad stronghold. Fighting in the Sadr City slum has claimed hundreds of lives since last month when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched a crackdown against Shi'ite militia groups in Baghdad and Basra. In a statement on Saturday, Moqtatda al-Sadr said he was giving the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government a 'last warning' to 'take the path of peace.'

Helen Long reports.