The interim Iraqi prime minister, Iyad Allawi, called on Iraqis who joined armed groups against US-led forces to lay down their weapons as militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pledged to go on with the resistance.

In an interview with US network ABC's "This Week" program on Sunday, Allawi said that his government would not give any room for any illegal armed groups to exist in Iraq.

"The position of the government is very clear. There is no room for any militias to operate inside Iraq," Allawi said. "Anything outside law and order is not tolerated, cannot be tolerated. The rule of law should prevail."

"Every one of us, every individual, starting from the president downward should be answerable to the law," he added.

All Iraqi insurgents, including Sadr, who led an uprising in Najaf in April against US troops, have to abide by the law, said Allawi, who had reportedly met a mediatory team between the government and the cleric.

But Sadr, who had made reconciliatory statements recently, on Sunday called the Allawi government "illegitimate" and pledged to continue resistance against "oppression and occupation."

In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Sadr's al-Mahdi militia fought American troops until both sides reached a cease-fire in June.

In a statement distributed by his office, Sadr said, "We pledge to the Iraqi people and the world to continue resisting oppression and occupation to our last drop of blood."

"Resistance is a legitimate right and not a crime to be punished," the firebrand cleric said.

He urged Iraqis to continue with their fight against foreign troops in Iraq after the coalition authority handed over power to the interim government late last month.

The Allawi government is "generally following the occupation. We demand complete sovereignty and independence by holding honest elections," the statement said.

Meanwhile, violence continued in Iraq as rockets, which were meant to target a government building, landed on nearby homes and wounded eight people on Monday in Basra, south Iraq.

The attack occurred shortly after midnight near the center of the city, a local police said.

In Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers on Sunday foiled a car bombing outside their regional headquarters, killing an attacker before he could detonate his vehicle.

Two bystanders were killed in the clash in Baqouba that witnessed fierce fighting last week between American soldiers and insurgents.

A strategic crude oil pipeline, which runs from the country's northern oil fields to the south, came under attack on Sunday and was set ablaze near Musayyib, about 80 km southwest of Baghdad, police officials said.

Between Baghdad and Fallujah, insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at a US convoy of 20 gasoline tankers.

In Kirkuk, US and Iraqi forces arrested six members of Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish militant group suspected of a string of assassinations. 

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2004)