American troops arrested in Najaf Wednesday Sayed Ryad al-Nuri, a close associate of Moqtada Sadr, the Iraqi Shiite cleric whose Mehdi Army has been actively resisting coalition forces, said Fuad Al-Turfi, a spokesperson for Sadr, according to agency reports. Al-Nuri is Sadr's brother-in-law.

Al-Nuri, who was arrested early this morning, did not put up a resistance, al-Turfi said.

US troops also arrested three of al-Turfi's own brothers when they raided his house this morning, he said.

The Mehdi Army has been fighting American forces since April, after Sadr's newspaper Al-Hawza was closed down by the Coalition Provisional Authority and his arrest ordered on charges of his involvement in the killing of another cleric Ayatollah Abdul Majid al-Khoei and one of his aides last year.

Sadr and his forces have hunkered down in the holy city Najaf, refusing to leave despite calls from senior religious leaders.

While the fighting has been going on essentially in southern cities, there have been attacks on coalition forces in Baghdad too.