The top aide to Iraq's anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Sheikh Hazem al-Araji, was arrested by US troops in Baghdad on Tuesday.  

Al-Araji was arrested at the entrance to the Palestine Hotel and then taken to the neighboring Sheraton Hotel.

US-led coalition forces have been fighting militias loyal to al-Sadr since April 4. US military Monday warned to "kill or capture" al-Sadr.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2004)