RAMADI, Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a series of raids Tuesday on Ramadi mosques and detained a prominent cleric following fierce clashes that hospital officials said killed at least four people.
The seven targeted mosques are suspected of supporting insurgents through a range of activities, including harboring terrorists, storing illegal weapons caches, promoting violence and encouraging insurgent recruitment, the U.S. command said.
Sheikh Abdul-Aleim Sadi, the provincial leader of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, was detained at Mohammed Aref Mosque, his relatives and followers said.
"The use of mosques as a safe haven by insurgents takes advantage of Multi-National Force-Iraq's respect for holy sites," a military statement said. "Mosques are granted protective status unless they are being used for militant purposes. At that time, they lose their protective status."
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