NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 13 (AFP) - Radical Iraqi Shiite militia leader Moqtada Sadr was wounded Friday as US and Iraqi government forces closed in on his Najaf stronghold, and called on his supporters to continue their "holy war" even if he died a martyr, aides said.
"The injuries are in his chest, legs and arms. He was hurt in an attack while checking one of the fighting battalions," said spokesman Sheikh Ali Sumeisim on the ninth day of the battle in the Shiite pilgrimage city of Najaf.
Sadr pressed his Mehdi Army to "continue the jihad (holy war) even if he dies a martyr," said Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani at the Imam Ali shrine, a stronghold of the militia since its spring uprising against the US-led occupation of Iraq.
"His condition is not known yet," added Shaibani, confirming that Sadr was wounded in three places.
Another aide said the cleric was wounded early Friday.
"It happened at about 7:00 am (0300 GMT) inside the old city," said Ali al-Yasseri.
Yet despite his call to arms, the militia leader also said talks to defuse a standoff between his militia and a joint Iraq-US force would continue, although they have "achieved no solution" to date, Shaibani added.
Various efforts have been underway to negotiate peace. The government`s pointman on security, Muwafaq al-Rubaie, is in Najaf in a bid to meet with Sadr and end the assault.
The Najaf office of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraq`s majority Shiite population, also said it was working with all sides for peace.
Envoy Hussein al-Shahrastani said that if Sistani had predicted the scale of the crisis he would never have left for medical treatment in Britain.
Meanwhile, tense and glum fighters roamed the mausoleum area early Friday.
"He is our leader and we would be lost without him as we were lost when his father died," said Faris al-Husseini, 27.
"I hope he will heal very soon and that his injuries are minor."
Heavy clashes raged in the Maidan Square area east of the shrine, according to an AFP correspondent, as US troops and Iraqi forces closed in on Sadr`s militia in the heart of Najaf.
Sadr`s home in the city was raided Thursday by US troops who found it empty.