Riot police fired tear gas to break up violent protests by thousands of Muslims against the US offensive in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.

The protest erupted after Friday prayers at a mosque in Srinagar, which has a large Shiite Muslim population, with demonstrators pelting security personnel with stones, a police spokesman said on Friday.

The militia led by firebrand Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr surrendered the Imam Ali mosque, one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines, in Najaf on Friday after a three-week standoff with US troops.

Meanwhile shops and businesses were closed in the rest of the Kashmir as lawyers staged a strike in protest at alleged human rights violations by Indian troops and the re-arrest of prisoners after courts set them free.

A deadly revolt has raged since 1989 against New Delhi's rule in Kashmir with the loss of tens of thousands of lives.

India denies that its troops are guilty of systematic abuse, adding any complaints are investigated and those found guilty punished.

Police also reported that a top commander of Kashmirs main indigenous rebel group, Hizb-ul-Mujahedin, had been shot dead during a gunbattle with troops in Beeru in the central district of Budgam.

(Agencies August 28, 2004)