In Najaf, a mob reportedly killed two Islamic clerics -- Abdel Majid Al-Khoei and Haider al Kadar -- at the shrine of Imam Ali, one of the holiest sites of Shiite Islam.
While the report couldn't be independently confirmed, witnesses said a meeting was held among leading mullahs about how to control the shrine, which had been under the control of Mullah Kadar, a member of Mr. Hussein's Ministry of Religion. In a gesture of reconciliation, Mullah Kadar was accompanied to the shrine by Mullah Khoei, a high-ranking Shiite cleric and the son of a prominent ayatollah executed by Mr. Hussein.
Witnesses said when the two men appeared at the shrine, they were verbally assailed by members of another faction loyal to a different mullah, Mohammed Braga al Saddar.
Mullah Khoei reportedly pulled a gun and fired one or two shots -- either into the air or into the crowd -- after which he and Mullah Kadar were rushed by the crowd and hacked to death with swords and knives.
"Al Kadar was an animal," said Adil Adnan al-Moussawi, 25, who witnessed the confrontation. "The people were shouting they hate him, he should not be here."
Mullah Khoei was one of the prominent exiles to return to Iraq, along with Ahmad Chalabi and Youssef al-Khairallah, a tribal chief. He had lived in London since defecting after the 1991 Shiite uprising crushed by Mr. Hussein. He returned to Najaf last week and helped persuade locals to cooperate with U.S. troops.
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