A pair of F-16 Fighting Falcons launch flares during a mission in Iraq (AFP)

NAJAF, Iraq , August 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Hundreds of heavily armed Iraqi and US troops were braced Tuesday, August 24, for an imminent assault on the Mehdi Army in the holy city of Najaf on orders to kill or capture leader Moqtada Al-Sadr unless he surrendered within hours.

Meanwhile, aides of the anti-US firebrand Sadr said he was ready to re-negotiate peace but would not accept humiliation after the 20-day conflict.

Helmeted Iraqi national guardsmen and US Marines were seen fanning out across the Old City around the Imam Ali shrine, as the sporadic crash of heavy fire could be heard in the background, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“We have no orders as of now to move forward to the shrine. We are on patrol to guard the neighborhood,” Marine Captain Nick Sims told AFP.

Troops were deployed in houses, against walls and behind lamp posts, an AFP correspondent said.

Fierce fighting continued Tuesday in Najaf, with black smoke seen rising above the Old City .

Iraqi national guardsmen and US troops came under a hail of gunfire from the Mahdi Army as they marched down Madina Street which runs parallel to the mausoleum, one of the holiest Shiite shrines in the world.

Warplanes spearheaded a heavy US assault against Sadr's militiamen in Najaf overnight. By dawn, US tanks were back within 200 meters of the Imam Ali shrine, after having retreated Monday, August 23.

Interim Prime Minister warned Thursday, August 19, that that a “final” assault on the Shiite fighters was imminent.

Captured or Killed

Iraqi troops, waiting for the signal to 'cleanse' the shrine by force

Interim Defense Minister Hazem Al-Shaalan further threatened Tuesday that Sadr would be killed or captured if he resisted the Iraqi troops.

“If Moqtada Sadr surrenders, he will be safe and sound. If he resists, the only thing for him is death or prison,” Shaalan told reporters at a US base outside Najaf, as broadcast by Al-Jazeera satellite channel.

“A large Iraqi force will near the mausoleum, waiting for the signal for the assault, unless they surrender. There are only a few hours left,” said Shaalan.

“When your brothers approach, they will appeal (to the Mehdi Army fighters) to surrender. It will be great for him and for the future of his supporters if Moqtada surrenders to the state,” he said.

Najaf governor Adnan Al-Zorfi said Iraq 's national guard were ready to evict the Mehdi Army fighters from the shrine.

“We are going to cleanse the city and the shrine of militiamen if they do not leave soon of their own accord,” he told AFP.

“The Iraqi national guard are 300 meters (yards) outside the shrine. We are ready and waiting for the go ahead from Baghdad ,” Zorfi said, refusing to say when the assault would happen, only that it will be “very soon”.

Negotiations

But aides of the young Shiite leader said that Sadr is willing to restart talks with the interim Iraqi government to end the current standoff peacefully.

“We are ready now to negotiate again,” Ali Smeisim told reporters.

“But we will not accept any solution that is humiliating for us... these threats will lead to more destruction and chaos,” added Sheikh Ahmad Al-Shaibani, reiterating a readiness to hand over the shrine to the Shiite religious leadership (Marjiyah in Arabic).

Despite announcing four days ago they would hand over control of the shrine to representatives of Shiites’ most revered scholar Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the agreement has since stalled.

Sistani has been reluctant to take back the shrine without ensuring that nothing is missing and the Mahdi Army is unwilling to surrender control amid any suggestion of impropriety.

Sistani's office accepted an offer by Sadr Friday, August 20, to take control of the shrine to bring an end to the face-off with US forces since August 5.

But it has stipulated that before it takes control, an inventory must be carried out to make sure the treasures remain in place and intact.

Sadr on August 17 failed to show up for a meeting with a delegation of Iraqi politicians and religious leaders because of incessant heavy shelling in An-Najaf by US forces.