Doomsday cult said to be at center of Iraqi battle
Authorities say Iraqi and U.S. forces fought disciples of a renegade Muslim leader intent on killing Shiite pilgrims.
By Louise Roug and Saad Fakhrildeen, Special to The Times
January 30, 2007

NAJAF, IRAQ — In an era beset by war and confusion, a purported messiah rises from the sands of the desert promising to deliver the end of time. On the outskirts of a holy city, he gathers his fighters for the apocalypse. But his plan is betrayed.

By dawn, government forces surround the messiah and his followers, killing him and hundreds of others.

The apparent story line of the Heaven's Army cult and its leader, Dhyaa Abdul-Zahra, seems to belong to a long-ago epoch.

But the Iraqi and U.S. troops who fought an intense battle against hundreds of disciples of the renegade Muslim leader near the ancient city of Najaf on Sunday met a modern enemy. They were armed not only with an unorthodox religious fervor but also with high-tech weapons, Iraqi officials said. the rest