Aide to top Iraqi Shiite cleric shot
Leading U.S. critic slams interim constitution
 |  Shiite worshippers take part in traditional Friday prayers in Sadr City, a poor neighborhood in Baghdad. |
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 Members of the Iraqi Governing Council sign their country's interim constitution.
 The U.S. administrator for Iraq says ending the occupation is key for Iraqis and Americans.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen shot and wounded an aide of an influential Shiite Muslim cleric heading to Friday prayers in the holy city of Najaf, sources said.
Sheikh Fuad al-Turafi, a spokesman for followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, was shot in the head on the way to the Kufa mosque in the south-central Iraqi city, where al-Sadr was leading services.
Al-Sadr is a strong critic of the U.S. presence in Iraq. He has a huge following in Sadr City, an impoverished Baghdad neighborhood formerly known as Saddam City.
Another man traveling with al-Turafi also was wounded, sources said.
The attack comes the day after a Sunni Muslim cleric, Nazem Khalaf, was wounded at a Baghdad mosque in what was believed to be an assassination attempt, police sources said. His son and son-in-law were killed in the attack, the sources said.
Also Thursday, a grenade was tossed into another Sunni mosque in the Iraqi capital, and a guard was killed.
During Friday prayers, al-Sadr criticized the U.S.-backed interim constitution signed Monday and what he considers weak Sunni condemnation of last week's Karbala and Baghdad attacks, which killed more than 180 people.
Al-Sadr called the constitution the "sale of Iraq" and "a stamp of shame" for those who signed it. He demanded all parties veto the document and endorse a new one.
Shiites on the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council held up the signing of the interim charter for several days because of concerns over a clause that Shiites felt gave veto power to Sunnis and Kurds for a permanent constitution.
The provision at issue says that a permanent constitution won't be approved without revisions if two-thirds of the people in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject the charter. The clause would give too much power to Kurds and Sunni Arabs, according to the Shiites, who make up about 60 percent of Iraq's population.
Al-Sadr said the Baghdad and Karbala attacks have "left a big impact on our hearts" and said he wants revenge for the killings.
He didn't blame Sunnis but criticized their response to the bombings.
He said Iraq's main enemies are the United States, Israel and the Baathists, the ruling party under Saddam Hussein's regime.
In Baghdad, more than 1,000 Shiite worshippers prayed and listened to speakers who protested recent events.
"Islam is threatened by the time bomb that is the interim constitution," read one banner. Another said, "The democracy of the Governing Council is a new one; it adopts the view of the minority and rejects the view of the majority."
The crowd also chanted against Israel and the United States.
The worshippers were mostly followers of Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammed Yaqoobi, an independent cleric based in Najaf who was raised on the principles of al-Sadr's father, Mohammed Al-Sadr, whom Saddam killed.
A sheik read out some demands from Yaqoobi. He said that the transitional law should not form the basis of a permanent constitution, that the permanent constitution should not oppose Islamic law and that elections need to be prepared immediately. He also raised concerns about the clause addressing vetoes for a permanent law.
Also Friday, coalition officials said two U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in Habbiniyah.
