U.S. takes governor's office in Najaf fight

KARBALA, Iraq — American forces on Thursday captured the governor's office on the outskirts of the holy city of Najaf and quickly installed a new Iraqi leader there. It was the most aggressive move yet against the radical Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who has led a monthlong resistance there.

The seizure of the governor's office came on another day of heavy fighting with al-Sadr's militia in southern Iraq. In a skirmish near the neighboring city of Kufa, where the bulk of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army is concentrated, the Americans said they had killed 41 insurgents.

As American troops secured the governor's office, L. Paul Bremer, the top American administrator in Iraq, announced the appointment of the new governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, and promised the restoration of American-backed authority in Najaf.

Zurufi, an opponent of Saddam Hussein who lived in exile for a time in Detroit, appealed to ordinary Iraqis and the country's religious leaders to help him disarm the militias in the city. Then he headed for the governor's mansion, where American officials said he started work.

The American move into Najaf, part of an operation that began earlier this week, reflected a high-risk strategy designed to subdue al-Sadr without alienating Iraq's Shiite majority population. The 31-year-old cleric and his armed followers, known as the Mahdi Army, took control of the two cities last month.

So far, in operations in Najaf and another holy Shiite city, Karbala, the Americans have avoided moving into the city centers, where the holiest shrines are. The governor's mansion lies less than two miles from the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, according to Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, and near the military base the Americans took over from the departing Spanish troops last month.

The Americans continued their military operations in Karbala, seizing a large store of weapons believed to have been used by the Mahdi Army and killing 10 insurgents. Also Thursday, a videotape of Aban Elias, 41, a civil engineer and father of three from Denver, who was kidnapped was shown on an Arab television station. Relatives say he bought a gravel factory to help rebuild roads destroyed by the war. Elias was renovating the plant near Fallujah when he vanished Monday. A group calling itself The Islamic Rage Brigade claimed responsibility.

Elias' mother and brother, who live in Denver, were devastated after reporters delivered the news Thursday. His brother, Kazwan Elias, said he could not understand why an Iraqi — and a Muslim — who was working to help his country would be in danger.