The US Military said on Monday it will capture or kill Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, who launched an anti-US uprising by his militia and supporters this month.‘‘The mission of US Forces is to kill or capture Moqtada Al-Sadr,’’ Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US ground forces in Iraq, said in the US in a video link from Baghdad.US-led authorities in Iraq have said an arrest warrant for Sadr was issued several months ago by an Iraqi judge in connection with the murder of a cleric in Najaf last year.General John Abizaid, head of US Central Command, said there was a possibility the uprising could be ended through a ‘‘uniquely Iraqi solution’’.Meanwhile, Al-Sadr pulled his militiamen out of police stations and government facilities in Najaf, partially meeting a US demand for ending the standoff in southern Iraq. Police today were back on the streets and in their stations for the first time in days since the Al-Mahdi Army militia of cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr took control of the facilities last week.‘‘Al-Sayed Al-Sadr issued instructions for his followers to leave the sites of police and the government,’’ said lawyer Murtada Al-Janabi, one of Al-Sadr’s representatives in negotiations with Iraqi Shiite political parties on ending the US standoff with Al-Sadr.One of the US demands in the talks was the return of police and government control in all three cities Al-Sadr’s militia took over, Najaf, Kufa and Karbala, according to negotiators. The Americans, who are not taking part in the talks, also demand the dissolution in the Al-Mahdi Army. In another incident, gunmen kidnapped seven Chinese citizens in Iraq. An armed group released several Asian truck drivers, including an Indian, who had worked with coalition forces and been abducted, Al-Jazeera television said, airing footage of the drivers.Al-Jazeera quoted the group as saying the drivers numbered eight, but went on to give a breakdown totalling nine, comprising three Pakistanis, two Turks, one Nepalese, one Indian, one Iranian and one Filipino.A video aired by the news channel showed some of the drivers, surrounded by hooded gunmen, brandishing identification documents and specifying their nationalities. The Chinese entered Iraq on Sunday morning and were abducted in Falluja, the official Xinhua news agency said. No further information was provided.
