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Iraqi province gives Saddam loyalists 24 hours to leave
Local government officials warned Saddam Hussein loyalists on Monday to move out of the Shiite province of Najaf in central Iraq within 24 hours or face an "iron fist."
They demanded the exodus after a meeting to discuss security in the wake of a triple bomb attack last week in Najaf, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Baghdad, that left up to 15 people dead.
"The Baath gang of Saddam has one day to leave the province or we will use an iron fist against those who have failed to distance themselves from the Baath and Al-Qaeda," the officials said in a statement.
The leader of the provincial council, which is dominated by the party of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, blamed the bomb attack on Baathists, referring to Saddam's outlawed Sunni-dominated Baath party.