Shi'ite fighters seize centre of Nassiriya

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BAGHDAD, Mar 28 (Reuters): Fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have seized the centre of the southern Nassiriya city, a Reuters witness said Friday.
A four-day-old Iraqi army crackdown on Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army in Basra, Iraq's second city and its gateway to the Gulf, has sparked fighting across the south and in Baghdad.
In the capital, Iraqi lawmakers were due to hold an emergency session in a bid to end violence in the flashpoint oil city of Basra, where Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gave militants a new deadline to hand over their weapons.
A Reuters reporter in Nassiriya, capital of Dhi Qar province, said he could see groups of fighters with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The sound of sporadic gunfire echoed through the streets. Police appeared to be staying in their stations, he said.
Militants have also taken control of the town of Shatra, 40 km to the north, he said, citing witnesses. Authorities have imposed a three-day curfew in Baghdad to contain the violence, in which more than 150 people have been killed since the government launched the offensive Tuesday against Sadr's followers.
The assault on Basra has exposed deep divisions between rival factions within Iraq's majority Shi'ite community. It is also a major test for Maliki's ability to prove Iraqi forces can stand on their own and allow US forces to withdraw.
Maliki Wednesday gave militants in Basra 72 hours to surrender themselves and their weapons, but Friday extended the deadline for handing over the weapons until April 8.
"All those who have heavy and intermediate weapons are to deliver them to security sites and they will be rewarded financially," he said in a statement issued by his office.