Some 100 Iraqis angry at persistent powercuts stormed Najaf’s electricity distribution centre on Sunday for the second consecutive day, causing frightened staff to flee. The protest came after Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr accused the interim government of failing to restore basic services in his Friday sermon.

<p? The protestors occupied the centre for about an hour in the city, where Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia still controls the area around the shrine of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA), an AFP correspondent said.

The Iraqi Culture Minister yesterday accused the coalition forces, commanded by Polish General Andrzej Ekiert, of constantly damaging and destroying the ancient part of Babilon.