Published: 06-Aug-2004
By: Lindsay Taylor
Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, and its most moderate influential voice, has arrived in Britain for treatment for a heart condition.
But the timing of Grand Ayatollah Ali-al Sistani's departure from Iraq could hardly be worse.
Fierce clashes between US troops and radical Shi'ite militia continued for a second day in the holy city of Najaf, where Sistani had brokered a ceasefire, and spread from Sadr City in Baghdad to the Shoula neighbourhood.
Fighting also broke out in Ramadi, in the Sunni triangle.
In the south, British and Italian troops fought militia in Basra, Amara and Nassiriya.
The US military claims up to 300 militiamen have so far been killed in the fighting. So is Iraq heading for a new radical Shi'ite uprising? Lindsay Taylor reports.
Iraqi Shiites wait to enter the holy city of Najaf yesterday. Thousands responded to an influential religious leader's call for a peace march, and rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's fighters opened the city's shrine after a three-week standoff.
Iraqi government, Al-Sadr OK peace deal
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-27 06:55
Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made a dramatic return to Najaf on Thursday and swiftly won agreement from a rebel cleric and the government to end three weeks of fighting between his militia and U.S.-Iraqi forces.
The renegade Muqtada al-Sadr accepted the proposal in a face-to-face meeting Thursday night with the 75-year-old al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric. Hours afterward, the government also agreed to the deal.
Meanwhile, an Arab television station said Friday it received a video showing the killing of Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni. Baldoni was kidnapped by militants who threatened to execute him if Italy did not withdraw troops from Iraq.
Al-Sistani returned to Iraq after heart treatment in London to intervene for the first time in the bloody conflict, drawing thousands of followers who marched on Najaf and massed on its outskirts.
In the 24 hours before al-Sistani entered the holy city, more than 90 Iraqis were killed in fighting — including 27 killed when mortars barraged a mosque in neighboring Kufa, where thousands had gathered to march into Najaf in support of al-Sistani's mission.
Fighting eased after al-Sistani arrived, when the U.S. military and the Iraqi government called a 24-hour ceasefire.
The acceptance by the young, firebrand preacher al-Sadr — whose militia has been battling U.S. and Iraqi forces since Aug. 5 — doesn't necessarily mean an end to the crisis. He has agreed to peace proposals before, and they have quickly fallen apart.
