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| 22 August 2004 | Sunday | 05 Rajab 1425 |
Talks to end siege of Najaf shrine hit snags
NAJAF, Aug 21: Fighters loyal to Shia leader Moqtada al Sadr clashed with US troops in Najaf on Saturday after talks with religious authorities to end a siege at the city's holiest shrine ran into difficulties.
Explosions from mortar bombs and rocket propelled- grenades echoed through the alleyways of the old city in Najaf, wrecking a day of relative calm in a two-week uprising that has helped drive world oil prices to record highs.
Militiamen had earlier brandished weapons around the Imam Ali Mosque, dampening hopes that an offer by Moqtada Sadr to hand the shrine over to the religious establishment would end the siege, the biggest challenge yet faced by Iraq's interim government.
"Bring those Americans here to fight hand to hand," one of Sadr's followers said before the latest outbreak of fighting.
"They are cowards. They stay thousands of feet away in their aeroplanes. They are scared, they know we will slaughter them," he said, biting his finger for emphasis.
In nearby Kufa, where Moqtada Sadr has in the past led prayers at the mosque, witnesses said US soldiers had also clashed with militiamen on Saturday.
A top Sadr aide said talks between the firebrand's representatives and the Shias' religious authority were continuing with a view to handing the shrine over to the control of Ayatollah Ali al Sistani. Ayatollah Sistani is in London recovering from surgery.
But the aide, Ali Smeisim, said the talks had hit a snag over a request by Sadr's side that Ayatollah Sistani send a delegation to perform an inventory of precious items in the mosque.-Reuters
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