Iraq's Najaf Tense After Cleric Snubs Peace Envoys
26587
NAJAF, Iraq  - Fears of heavier fighting in Najaf  grew on Wednesday after an Iraqi peace delegation failed to  defuse a confrontation between U.S. troops and militiamen holed  up in a revered shrine in the city.
215782
NAJAF, Iraq -- Radical Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr refused yesterday to meet with a delegation of Iraqi political figures that had rushed here from Baghdad with a last-ditch offer for peace, deflating hopes for a quick resolution to the confrontation between Sadr's militia and US and Iraqi security forces.
518551
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A delegation of Iraqis meant to help negotiate an end to an uprising in Najaf was forced to delay its mission Tuesday when it could not get a military escort for the dangerous journey to meet the radical cleric at the center of the standoff in the holy city.    It was an embarrassing turn of events for Iraqi leaders seeking a political victory to give them credibility as they try to chart the country's new course and end the fighting in Najaf - their worst crisis since taking power in the end of June...
254136
Failure to disband the militia of the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr could be storing up trouble for the future, Britainâs former envoy to Iraq warned today.
557123
NAJAF, Iraq  - Fierce fighting broke out in the  holy Iraqi city of Najaf Monday, with numerous explosions and  gunfire echoing around a sacred shrine held by followers of a  radical Shi'ite cleric, Reuters witnesses said.
412447
ast week, the Iraqi city of Najaf teetered between hopes for a truce and threats of an all-out government assault to rout the rebel Islamic cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
484293
Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand  Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged his supporters converging on  Najaf on Thursday not to enter the battered holy city until he  arrived, a senior aide said.
630766
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A delegation of Iraqis arrived in Najaf on helicopters Tuesday to present radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr with a peace proposal aimed at ending the violent insurgency wracking the holy city.    The peace proposal, cobbled together Iraq's National Conference in Baghdad, demanded that al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia put down its arms and join Iraq's political process in exchange for amnesty...
380491
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Mortar fire and gunshots were heard in Najaf a day after an Iraqi delegation failed to meet Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on a peace mission aimed at ending an uprising by the cleric&#39;s militia, Agence France-Presse said.
567046
NAJAF, Iraq  - Heavy fighting broke out between  U.S. troops and Shi'ite militiamen in the Iraqi city of Najaf  on Wednesday after a peace delegation failed to broker a truce  to end nearly two weeks of clashes.
121620
NAJAF, Iraq  - A radical cleric is preparing to hand control of a shrine at the heart of a Shi&#39;ite uprising in Iraq to religious authorities, but still rejects demands by the interim prime minister to disband his militia.
117612
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Heavy clashes broke out in Najaf leaving dead and wounded a day after an Iraqi delegation failed to meet Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on a mission aimed at ending an uprising by the cleric&#39;s militia, Reuters said.
543790
NAJAF, Iraq  - U.S. marines and a radical Iraqi  cleric were locked in a tense standoff on Thursday after the  firebrand leader refused to leave a holy shrine in Najaf  despite earlier agreeing to disarm his militia and withdraw.
467909
NAJAF, Iraq  - Iraq's radical cleric Moqtada  al-Sadr refused on Tuesday to meet a delegation of Iraqi  political and religious leaders who want him to call off his  uprising in the holy city of Najaf and other areas.
119056
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The State Department is reacting with caution to reports of a radical Shiite cleric&#39;s acceptance of a peace plan for Najaf.
84759
Conflicting reports have emerged over the situation in the Iraqi city of Najaf. How can peace be forged in the city?
235068
BAGHDAD, Aug. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq&#39;s radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr refused to meet a delegation of Iraqi political and religious leaders in the holy city of Najaf, CNN reported.