WRAP US airstrike kills 6, aid said to be prevented from Sadr City, funerals in Najaf

(1 Apr 2008) SHOTLIST Baghdad 1. Wide of vehicle wreckage on Falah Street following attack 2. Various of wrecked vehicle in street 3. Wide exterior of Imam Ali bin Ibi Talib Hospital 4. Various of injured people lying on beds 5. Women crying next to coffin on back of truck 6. Mural of Shiite clerics on side of street 7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ali Khashin, local resident: "Despite the great initiative by Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr which has pleased Iraqis from north to south, the US troops are still besieging the city. And the schools and government institutions are still closed." 8. Exterior of closed secondary school 9. Close-up of sign reading: (Arabic) "al-Fayha Secondary School for girls" 10. Various interiors of empty school 11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Munthir al-Bawee, local resident: "Sadr city has been suffering from an unjust siege for seven days imposed by the occupying troops. It also suffers from snipers at night until eight or nine a.m." Outskirts of Sadr city, Baghdad 12. Wide of vehicles and trucks belonging to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society parked by road 13. Red Crescent staff negotiating with Iraqi troops 14. Truck loaded with foodstuff and medical aid 15. Long shot of US tank on bridge blocking road leading to Sadr city, Red Crescent workers in foreground 16. Long shot of tank 17. Red Crescent truck driving away from the military check point 18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Amar Sadiq, Iraqi Red Crescent: "This is the Iraqi Red Crescent organisation. The US army don't give me permission to take the food to Sadr city to give them assistance or medical (aid) and water and food to give them to the people living in Sadr city. But the US army don't give me any permission to take this food to give them to the people who live in this area." 19. Wide of Red Crescent workers Najaf 20. Wide of dome of the holy shrine of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammed 21. Man holding up the photo of Salim Qassim, one of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's top security advisers, killed during clashes in Basra 22. Vehicle bearing the flag-draped coffin driving past 23. Wide of mourners in procession 24. Banner reading: (Arabic) "Dawa Party consoles the Iraqi people over the death of Salim al-Taie" 25. Mid of cemetery in Najaf, burial site for Mahdi army fighters 26. Billboard with photo of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr reading: (Arabic) "Mahdi army fighters' graveyard'' 27. People unloading coffin from roof of vehicle 28. Close of woman crying 29. Various of body, of one of the Mahdi army fighters killed in recent clashes, wrapped in shroud, being lowered into grave, STORYLINE Despite a relative calm in Baghdad and Basra on Tuesday, two days after a radical Shiite cleric called on his fighters to stand down in a bid to end a widening conflict, sporadic fighting continued in the Shiite areas of both cities. Iraqi and US forces have been involved in ferocious week-long fighting with followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in Baghdad and Basra, as part of a government crackdown against the militias. A US helicopter fired a missile at gunmen attacking ground forces in the Baghdad militia stronghold of Sadr City on Tuesday, killing six militants, the military said. Iraqi police and witnesses said three civilians were killed in the strike. Ground forces called for the airstrike in Sadr City after gunmen fired at a tank and rolled a burning tire in their direction, said a military spokesman in Baghdad. The US military denied their forces were involved in such an incident. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...