The Shiite military men, lead by the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, issued an ultimatum to the coalition forces to leave the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala.

A representative of the al-Sadr announced that he has handed in the ultimatum in order to place Karbala's authorities under the Shiite religious power. He also underlined that Shiite representatives have already launched negotiations with the Polish troops.

These claims were refuted by the spokesperson of the polish unit. Later in the day a spokesperson of the Polish Defence Ministry also said that no official ultimatum has been filed by the Shiite leaders.

Polish and Bulgarian troops battled Shiite militiamen in Karbala as US-led forces struggled to quell the worst violence since Saddam Hussein's fall a year ago. Over the last weeks, tension in the country has been running high. Insurgents are frantically fighting coalition troops in at least four cities, with Falluja being most heavily struck by violence.

This week four Bulgarian soldiers were wounded while on duty, one had to undergo surgery. In a separate attack near Nasiriya, gunmen killed a Bulgarian civilian. The victim was a driver, and the group of vehicles ran into an ambush.

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