whether national guards or others, the majority of whom are Muslim, calling upon them to refrain for commiting this enormous sin under the banner of forces that do not respect our religion or any principles of basic humanity, and we ask them to view this war as illegal." It called a "ploy" the assertaion that the attack was merely on foreign fighters at Fallujah. The convergence of views among the more militant Sunni Muslim clerics of AMS and the radical Shiites of the Sadr movement has been seen before, last spring during the initial US assault on Fallujah and during the US attack on Mahdi Army militiamen in Najaf. Most Shiites, however, are still reluctant to take major risks to support the Sunnis of Fallujah, many of whom