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Iraqi
Summiteers Urge Sadr To Leave Shrine
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Members
vote to send a delegation to Najaf during the Iraqi national
conference
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BAGHDAD,
August 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Iraqi National
Conference put forward Monday, August 16, a new peace initiative with
Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr to defuse a 12-day standoff in the holy
city of Najaf.
Most
of the summiteers have called on Sadr to leave the Imam Ali Shrine and
relinquish the holy sites to the interim Iraqi government of Iyad
Allawi, Al-Arabiya news channel reported.
They
also demanded Sadr's Mehdi Army be dissolved and turned into a
political party.
A
proposal by a relative of Sadr, Sheikh Hussein Al-Sadr, to send a
group to Najaf in the company of media people, though the interim
government ordered Sunday, August 15, all Arab and foreign journalists
out of the restive city, was approved by a show of hands.
“We
must work together to convince Moqtada Al-Sadr and the dear brothers
in the Mehdi Army to transform [their militia] into a political party
whatever its leaning,” Sheikh Hussein Al-Sadr said.
A
large group of participants walked out of the much-anticipated
conference Sunday, August 15, as pitched battles between Mehdi Army
and the US occupation troops, backed by Iraqi police, resumed in the
holy city.
More
than 100 people leapt
out of their seats
as soon as UN special envoy to Iraq Ashraf Jehangir Qazi finished his
opening speech, shouting “as long as there are air strikes and
shelling we can't have a conference”.
Gunfire
boomed across Najaf Sunday, a day after the interim government said
its offensive against Shiite militiamen would continue in the wake of
failed peace talks.
An
AFP correspondent heard tank fire and saw smoke rising Sunday from the
direction of the vast cemetery, north of the holy shrine of Imam Ali,
which has been a militia stronghold since a spring uprising against
foreign troops.
Later
in the day, US marines were seen heading towards the Old City, the AFP
correspondent said, reporting a loud exchange of fire.
‘In
Principle’
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Iraqi
men watch a market area burn after clashes in Najaf
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Sadr,
for his part, is said to have accepted “in principle” the
conference’s initiative with his top aide Qais Al-Khazali, saying
the anti-US firebrand young leader is ready to receive a delegation
representing the conference, Al-Arabiya added.
On
Saturday, August 14, a spokesman for Sadr said the Shiite leader was
ready to accept a United Nations force in Iraq as peace talks between
Mehdi Army and the government broke down.
“We
prefer the UN to the [US-led] occupation forces, because Iraq is a
member of the United Nations,” Sheikh Ahmad Al-Shaibani said.
“There
is a big difference between the blue helmets (of UN troops) and the
occupation troops.”
Sadr
is “ready to meet the UN representative if he requests [a
meeting],” the spokesman added.
Qazi
arrived in Baghdad Friday, August 14, and held immediate talks with
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and President Ghazi Al-Yawer.
In
his first public appearance following grinding battles, Sadr demanded
the “dictatorial, agent” interim government step down, vowing
to fight the
US-occupation forces until death or victory.
The
US occupation forces launched
a sweeping offensive
Thursday, August 12, in a bid to crush down the uprising of the Mahdi
Army.
Iraqi
Sunni and Shiite leaders slammed what they saw as a “bloodbath”
and called upon the international community to step in to rein the
Americans.
The
bloody US raid, described by law experts as amounting
to genocide,
came amid signs of serious cracks among the ranks of the Iraqi
government.
The
deputy governor of Najaf resigned, in protest at the “ terrorist”
acts of the
US occupation forces as deadly raids into the holy city has left
hundreds of Shiite fighters and civilians killed.
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