BAGHDAD: Iraqi police say gunmen have assassinated a local commander of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the southern city of Basra.A police official says Ali Ghalib, a commander of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in the Hakimiya neighborhood in central Basra, was gunned down by gunmen on a motorcycle as he was driving on Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The assassination comes amid intensified clashes between al-Sadr's followers and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.