American troops moved in force Monday to arrest the US-appointed mayor of this holy Shiite town, removing him on kidnapping and corruption charges and detaining 62 of his top aides, officials said.

Villagers watch as US Army scouts check their house during a sweep for weapons and suspects in Shahravan village, 48 miles northeast of Baghdad, June 30, 2003. U.S. forces detained 180 people in raids to stamp out resistance to their occupation in Iraq, the military said. [Reuters]

The arrest came as a sweep in a wide swath of central Iraq moved into its second day. The sweep, dubbed operation Sidewinder, is designed to capture Saddam Hussein loyalists and curb a wave of attacks on American soldiers. So far, however, no major fugitives have been reported arrested, and some soldiers say their efforts have been plagued by faulty intelligence and bad luck.

The arrest of the mayor of Najaf, Abu Haydar Abdul Mun'im, came less than three months after he was installed by American troops after they entered the town in April. The former Iraqi army colonel was unpopular from the start with the local population because of his military background.

In recent weeks, residents of Najaf, 110 miles southwest of Baghdad, have held demonstrations against Mun'im, accusing him of links to the Baath Party of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

Coalition forces made the arrest at the request of an Iraqi investigative judge in Najaf, said a statement by the US-led provisional authority.

In addition to kidnapping, Mun'im stands accused of holding hostages, pressuring government employees to commit financial crimes, and attacking a bank official.

"They have been investigating these allegations for some time before concluding that there is sufficient evidence to warrant arrest," the statement said. "These allegations are very serious."

Mun'im was replaced by Haydar Mahdi Mattar al Mayali, a former deputy in the mayor's office.

On Monday, US forces blocked the entrance to Mun'im's offices and would not let reporters enter.

"There is a mission in progress," one Marine said.

Mun'im's ouster was expected to be met with satisfaction in the town.

Saddam was highly unpopular in the Shiite-dominated south, which until recently had been largely free of the ambushes that have been plaguing US troops in the so-called Sunni triangle north and west of Baghdad, where Saddam enjoyed a degree of support.

From his headquarters in Najaf, one of Iraq's most senior Shiite clerics, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, denouncing US administrators' plan to create a council to draw up a new constitution for Iraq. Al-Sistani said a council handpicked by the Americans was "fundamentally unacceptable."

In the fatwa, dated Saturday and posted on al-Sistani's Web site, the ayatollah called for elections to pick delegates to a constitutional convention and a referendum to approve any constitution it draws up. Al-Sistani, one of Iraq's most influential people, has been largely supportive of American interests since Saddam's ouster - and it wasn't clear how the fatwa would affect US plans for a new government.

Al-Sistani and another senior Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, told The Associated Press on Monday that they favored a peaceful end to the US occupation, and its replacement by a representative Iraqi government.

"What we want is the formation of a government that represents the will of the Iraqi people, by all its sects and ethnic groups," said al-Sistani.

Al-Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, dismissed US concerns about his group's links to neighboring Iran, and also called for the end of the occupation.

"Our demand is that a government be formed by the Iraqis and work to end the occupation by peaceful means," he said.

Sidewinder, which began early Sunday, was an effort by the Americans to snuff out remaining pockets of pro-Saddam resistance. US troops have been increasingly targeted in recent weeks, raising fears that their mission will become mired by a guerrilla-style insurgency.

As part of the sweep, troops detained a colonel from Saddam's Baath Party along with five other individuals, a military statement said Monday, without providing details. The statement said at least 319 Iraqis have been detained in several operations, including Sidewinder, across Iraq since Sunday.

There have been no reports of US casualties during Sidewinder, the military said.

Also Monday, insurgents fired a rocket propelled grenade at a military vehicle in the restive town of Fallujah, injuring an "embedded" sound engineer with NBC News. Three Iraqis were killed when their pickup truck slammed into a vehicle helping evacuate the wounded reporter.

NBC News producer Carol Grisanti identified the injured employee as Australian Jeremy Little, a television sound man. She said his injuries were serious but not life threatening.

"It's very serious, but his vitals are stable," said Marcus O'Brian, a cameraman who was in another vehicle in the convoy. Little was brought to a military combat hospital. Grisanti said Little underwent surgery on Monday and may have to have another operation Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a huge explosion at an ammunitions depot killed at least three people and injured four in the western city of Hadithah, 150 miles northwest of Baghdad, according to initial reports from the US military. It was not immediately clear who the ammunition belonged to or what caused the explosion.

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