U.S., Shiites Disagree on Baghdad Ambush

By TAREK AL-ISSAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A nighttime clash that killed two U.S. soldiers and at least one Iraqi in a teeming Shiite Muslim slum raised tensions Friday between the American occupation force and the country's religious majority.

The Americans said their troops were lured into an ambush, but the Shiites maintained that U.S. soldiers opened fire first when they approached radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's headquarters in the Sadr City slum.

The clash late Thursday, which wounded at least seven Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers, drew an angry reaction from Iraq's Shiites. That could mean trouble for coalition forces, because the Shiite population in Iraq has shown patience with the American occupation so far, evidently feeling it had much to win from cooperating.

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