http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=5&u=/nm/20040910/ts_nm/iraq_policemen_dcDUBAI (Reuters) - An Iraqi rebel group has seized four Iraqi policemen in Najaf and threatened to kill them unless police agree to stop hunting insurgents and pressuring rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Al Jazeera television said Friday.
"They accused them (police) of pursuing the Mujahideen (fighters) and harassing Moqtada al-Sadr. They demanded a stop to these practices and a statement to this effect within 72 hours, or they will kill the hostages," it said, showing video images of the policemen sent to the channel.
Al Jazeera said the kidnappers called themselves the "Joint Forces to Stop Agents and Spies," a previously unknown group.
The radical cleric, who draws support from impoverished Shi'ite Muslims, has launched two bloody uprisings this year in the holy city of Najaf against Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim government and U.S.-led forces