BAGHDAD, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has urged his followers to continue fighting against US and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf, the US-sponsored Arab language al-Hurra TV channel reported Friday. "Moqtada Sadr has asked his fighters to continue the fight," Sadr's spokesman Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani said in the Imam AliShrine in Najaf.

    Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad, has witnessed bloody clashes between US-backed Iraqi forces and militants loyal to Sadrduring the past two weeks.

    Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Thursday issued a "final call" to Sadr's militia to disarm and pull out of the ImamAli Shrine. Enditem