An arrest warrant has been issued for Muqtada al-Sadr, the raving radical Shi’ite “cleric” who has been one of the worst agitators: Warrant Issued for Shiite Cleric’s Arrest.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi judge has issued a murder arrest warrant for a radical Shiite Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, for the slaying of another Shiite leader shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of the country, coalition officials said Monday.

Coalition spokesman Dan Senor announced the warrant but would not say when al-Sadr would be detained. “There’ll be no advance warning,” he said.

The announcement of the warrant came a day after violent clashes between militiamen loyal to al-Sadr that killed 52 Iraqis, eight U.S. soldiers and a Salvadoran soldier — some of the worst gunbattles since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

Since the violence, al-Sadr has been holed up in a mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, surrounded by armed supporters.

Senor said the arrest warrant had been issued several months ago. He refused to say why al-Sadr had not been arrested earlier.

Al-Sadr is accused in the slaying of Abdel-Majid al-Khoei, a rival Shiite cleric who was stabbed to death by a mob at a Shiite shrine in the city of Najaf in April.

The New York Times, meanwhile, seems to have a crush on this blushing “young radical” and his “unleashed wrath:” A Young Radical’s Anti-U.S. Wrath Is Unleashed.

UPDATE: The dictionary definition of “wrath:”

1 : strong vengeful anger or indignation

2 : retributory punishment for an offense or a crime : divine chastisement

I think we know whose side the New York Times is on.