Baghdad: Firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's militia today (Apr 8, 2004) said it was holding Spanish hostages and possibly an American whom they plan to swap for one of their Najaf-based leaders, Mustafa Yaacubi, arrested by coalition forces on Saturday (Apr 3, 2004).

"We hold coalition hostages, most of them Spaniards, and possibly a US soldier, whom we want to swap against Mustafa al-Yaacubi," said Amar al-Husseini, a spokesman for Sadr in Baghdad's Shiite bastion of Sadr City.

The US-led coalition was not immediately available for comment.

Yaacubi, like Sadr, is implicated in the murder of a rival pro-American cleric in 2003.