Sadr's Men Hold Iraq Shrine
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Fighters loyal to rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are firmly in control of Najaf's Imam Ali mosque, giving the lie to government claims that police had taken control of the shrine.
Militiamen brandished weapons defiantly and mocked Iraq's interim government around the mosque, at the centre of a confrontation with U.S. forces that has helped drive oil prices to record highs and presented the government with is biggest crisis yet.
Holding out hope for a peaceful resolution, one of Sadr's top aides said on Saturday the rebel leader wanted to hand over Iraq's holiest Shi'ite shrine to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most influential Shi'ite cleric, and that talks on the mosque's future were under way.
"We would like to hand over the shrine to the religious establishment which has the right to control it," Sheikh Ahmad al-Sheibani told reporters. "It is only natural that Ayatollah Sistani should accept it."
Sistani, who usually lives in Najaf, is now in Britain recovering from surgery.
But Sadr's aide later added that Sadr's militia would continue to guard the mosque after any handover, precisely the outcome that Iraq's interim government has vowed to prevent.
"The Mehdi Army will continue to defend the shrine and Najaf, all of Najaf because it is a holy city," Sheibani told reporters. "The Americans will not be allowed into Najaf."
Sheibani said no time had been set for a handover of the mosque and called on the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, which has threatened to storm the mosque, to pursue a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Hundreds of young men inside the shrine chanted slogans vilifying Allawi, who has called on them to lay down their weapons and leave the golden-domed shrine.
"We are winning, we will win over Iyad Allawi and the traitors collaborating with the Americans," they chanted.
Some held banners that said: "Where is the bullet that will grant me martyrdom?"
Sheibani said Sadr had agreed to hand over the keys to the shrine to Sistani's aides, but did not say when. Such a handover would be largely symbolic if Sadr's fighters remained in place in and around the mosque, where they have been fighting off efforts by U.S. and Iraqi government forces to dislodge them.
BLASTS
The sound of explosions echoed across the holy city early on Saturday, though their causes was not clear. The blasts followed a relatively quiet night, the calm broken only sporadically by U.S. aircraft flying overhead.
Confusion over who controlled the mosque swirled on Friday as Sadr's rebellion, in which hundreds have died, entered its third week.
The Interior Ministry said on Friday police had entered the shrine and arrested hundreds of fighters without firing a shot, a claim quickly denied by Sadr's aides.
A bloodless seizure of the mosque would have been a big political victory for Allawi. Since taking over from U.S. occupiers on June 28 he has struggled to end an insurgency and the Sadr-inspired Shi'ite revolt in eight cities.
Iraq's Health Ministry said on Saturday morning that at least 21 Iraqis had been killed and five wounded in fighting in Najaf over the past 24 hours.
The U.S. military said insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. military vehicle in southern Baghdad on Saturday, killing one soldier and wounding two others.
In a separate attack, two U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded on Friday by a roadside bomb near the city of Samarra, some 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.
The attacks brought to 711 the number of U.S. troops killed in action in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion last year.
The uprising in Najaf fuelled fears of disruption to Iraqi oil production and helped push world crude prices to new highs. U.S. light crude hit a new record of $49.40 a barrel on Friday, before slipping back to close just below $48.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said on Friday Sadr might have escaped the mosque. He urged the cleric to surrender so he might be covered by an amnesty Allawi has offered.
By Michael Georgy
Sat 21 August, 2004 10:49
Militiamen brandished weapons defiantly and mocked Iraq's interim government around the mosque, at the centre of a confrontation with U.S. forces that has helped drive oil prices to record highs and presented the government with is biggest crisis yet.
Holding out hope for a peaceful resolution, one of Sadr's top aides said on Saturday the rebel leader wanted to hand over Iraq's holiest Shi'ite shrine to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most influential Shi'ite cleric, and that talks on the mosque's future were under way.
"We would like to hand over the shrine to the religious establishment which has the right to control it," Sheikh Ahmad al-Sheibani told reporters. "It is only natural that Ayatollah Sistani should accept it."
Sistani, who usually lives in Najaf, is now in Britain recovering from surgery.
But Sadr's aide later added that Sadr's militia would continue to guard the mosque after any handover, precisely the outcome that Iraq's interim government has vowed to prevent.
"The Mehdi Army will continue to defend the shrine and Najaf, all of Najaf because it is a holy city," Sheibani told reporters. "The Americans will not be allowed into Najaf."
Sheibani said no time had been set for a handover of the mosque and called on the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, which has threatened to storm the mosque, to pursue a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Hundreds of young men inside the shrine chanted slogans vilifying Allawi, who has called on them to lay down their weapons and leave the golden-domed shrine.
"We are winning, we will win over Iyad Allawi and the traitors collaborating with the Americans," they chanted.
Some held banners that said: "Where is the bullet that will grant me martyrdom?"
Sheibani said Sadr had agreed to hand over the keys to the shrine to Sistani's aides, but did not say when. Such a handover would be largely symbolic if Sadr's fighters remained in place in and around the mosque, where they have been fighting off efforts by U.S. and Iraqi government forces to dislodge them.
BLASTS
The sound of explosions echoed across the holy city early on Saturday, though their causes was not clear. The blasts followed a relatively quiet night, the calm broken only sporadically by U.S. aircraft flying overhead.
Confusion over who controlled the mosque swirled on Friday as Sadr's rebellion, in which hundreds have died, entered its third week.
The Interior Ministry said on Friday police had entered the shrine and arrested hundreds of fighters without firing a shot, a claim quickly denied by Sadr's aides.
A bloodless seizure of the mosque would have been a big political victory for Allawi. Since taking over from U.S. occupiers on June 28 he has struggled to end an insurgency and the Sadr-inspired Shi'ite revolt in eight cities.
Iraq's Health Ministry said on Saturday morning that at least 21 Iraqis had been killed and five wounded in fighting in Najaf over the past 24 hours.
The U.S. military said insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. military vehicle in southern Baghdad on Saturday, killing one soldier and wounding two others.
In a separate attack, two U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded on Friday by a roadside bomb near the city of Samarra, some 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.
The attacks brought to 711 the number of U.S. troops killed in action in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion last year.
The uprising in Najaf fuelled fears of disruption to Iraqi oil production and helped push world crude prices to new highs. U.S. light crude hit a new record of $49.40 a barrel on Friday, before slipping back to close just below $48.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said on Friday Sadr might have escaped the mosque. He urged the cleric to surrender so he might be covered by an amnesty Allawi has offered.
By Michael Georgy
Sat 21 August, 2004 10:49
posted by R7 | 8/21/2004 11:27:00 PM
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