Iraqi police have ordered all covert sympathizers of the mujahideen to leave Najaf…

Oops! Did I write “covert sympathizers?” My bad. Iraq Evicts Reporters From Najaf.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi police ordered all journalists to leave the holy city of Najaf on Sunday, just as a new U.S. offensive against militants hiding out in a revered shrine there began.

Four police cars surrounded a hotel in the city where journalists were staying and presented the order signed by Najaf’s police chief, Brig. Ghalib al-Jazaari.

Though the order did not spell out a punishment for those who did not comply, the police who delivered it said any reporters remaining would be arrested, according to journalists at the hotel. The police said any cameras and cellular phones they saw would be confiscated. In response to the threat, many journalists left the city.

The order would mean that the only news coverage of the ongoing violence in Najaf, one of the most revered cities to Shiite Muslims, would be provided by reporters embedded with the U.S. military. [The HORROR! —ed.]

UPDATE at 8/15/04 12:20:11 pm:

The jolly addle-brained Morlocks at Democratic Underground are having aneurysms over this news: Democratic Underground Forums - Iraqi police urge all media to leave Najaf. You can’t write comedy like this.