The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Kufa

Hardline Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Friday he plans to form a new wing of his powerful movement to battle US forces, allowing other members to focus on social issues.

In a statement issued to his nearly 60,000 strong Mahdi Army militia, he said the fight against US troops will now be waged only by the new group, while other members will "take on a social and religious role."

"The resistance will be carried out exclusively by a special group which I will announce later," Sadr said in a statement read out at mosques in the holy Shiite town of Kufa. "We will keep resisting the occupier until the liberation (of Iraq) or (our) martyrdom."