Clashes in Iraq's Shi'ite south kill four-sources

NASIRIYA, Iraq, May 16 (Reuters) Militias loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with Iraqi forces in the southern city of Nasiriya today which killed four people and wounded 40, Iraqi police and hospital sources said.

A police lieutenant said the fighting broke out after police arrested two Mehdi Army militiamen yesterday on suspicion they were part of a team that plants roadside bombs in the area.

Witnesses in Nasiriya, 375 km south of Baghdad, said the clashes began before dawn. Fighting eased by noon after the militias withdrew from the city's centre.

Iraq's Shi'ite south has seen less violence than in Baghdad and other areas, but fighting between rival Shi'ite factions and security forces erupts from time to time.

Sadr, an influential cleric and political figure, commands the Mehdi Army militia, which has strongholds in Baghdad's Shi'ite areas and in the south.

REUTERS ABM ND1452