Iraq's interim government reinstated the death penalty yesterday for a range of crimes including murder, kidnapping and drug offences, officials said.
Capital punishment was suspended after the toppling of Saddam Hussein in April last year. Officials, speaking at a news conference, said the death penalty would go into effect once it had been published in a government gazette.
"This has to do with the security situation in Iraq," Minister of State Adnan al-Janabi said, speaking a day after the government announced an amnesty for insurgents who have committed minor crimes.
Also yesterday, Iraq's interim prime minister ordered Shiite fighters to lay down their weapons and leave the holy city of Najaf, but the militiamen fortified their positions around an ancient cemetery with mines.
Witnesses said clashes erupted again yesterday in Najaf and also the squalid Baghdad district of Sadr City, as the death toll from four days of fighting in several regions mounted.
The clashes between US troops and men loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have killed hundreds of people and challenged the authority of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
The Health Ministry said at least 43 people had been killed in Najaf and Baghdad during the 24 hours to yesterday morning.
Allawi held talks with the governor of Najaf, the holiest Shiite city in Iraq. He was accompanied by his interior and defense ministers and other top officials.
Despite Allawi's order, fighters roamed the streets and laid mines around the crypts and mausoleums of Najaf's ancient cemetery, one of the oldest in the Middle East and scene of the worst fighting.
A senior US military official in Baghdad said marines had put a wide circle around the area to cut off supplies. He said the marines and Iraqi security forces numbered 5,500 men.
In Baghdad, an American OH-58 Delta helicopter made a "precautionary landing" northwest of Sadr City, but US military officials said initial reports indicated it had mechanical trouble.
Major General Peter Chiarelli of the 1st Cavalry Division said both pilots were safe. Militiamen from Sadr's Mehdi Army said the aircraft was shot down and celebrated as they displayed a pilot's helmet.
The Health Ministry said 22 people had died in clashes in Sadr City and other parts of the capital from 9am Saturday to 9am yesterday.
At least 21 people were killed in similar clashes in Najaf during the same period. "The figure from Najaf is initial because there are still bodies that could not be collected due to the ongoing fighting," an official said.
The US marines said on Friday they had killed 300 of the militiamen in Najaf, unleashing war planes and helicopter gunships against fighters armed mainly with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
A militia spokesman put losses at 36 dead. Four American marines and one soldier have been killed.
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