Sadr prepares to hand over Najaf shrine
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.
693004
NAJAF, Iraq  - An aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said the militant leader instructed his followers late Thursday to turn over the keys of the revered Shiite shrine they were hiding in to top religious ...
728962
NAJAF, Iraq - Militants loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr remained in control of a revered Shiite shrine at the center of the crisis in Najaf on Saturday, as they bickered with top Shiite religious leaders over how to hand the holy site over.    As the standoff dragged on, heavy clashes broke out for about 45 minutes near the cemetery and the Old City on Saturday afternoon between al-Sadr's militiamen and U.S...
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...
633813
Moktada al-Sadr's aide said he was waiting for an inventory of the shrine to be carried out before he could hand over the keys.
302910
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr signaled that he would accept a plea from Iraqi leaders to dissolve his militia and vacate the sacred Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, but he asked for further ...
690043
NAJAF, Iraq -- Loyalists to Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remained in control of the gold-domed Imam Ali shrine yesterday after failing to reach an agreement with representatives of Iraq's most senior Shi'ite leader on how to hand over the holy site.
691229
NAJAF, Iraq - Militiamen loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday removed weapons from the revered Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf in a step aimed at ending the 2-week-old uprising centered on the holy site.    The move came as al-Sadr's followers were working out the handing of control over the shrine to Iraq's highest Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani...
40496
NAJAF, Iraq - Followers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Friday they were prepared to hand control of the revered Imam Ali Shrine to top Shiite religious authorities, and Iraq's interim prime minister said he would not storm the holy site.    The moves came after a day and night of fighting in Najaf that killed 77 people and wounded 70 others, as al-Sadr militiamen mortared a police station and U.S...
280157
NAJAF, Iraq - Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters Thursday to hand control of a revered Najaf shrine to top Shiite religious authorities, hours after U.S. forces bombed militant positions and Iraq's prime minister made a "final call" for the cleric's militia to surrender...
625231
NAJAF, Iraq - Firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to lay down their arms and leave Najaf and neighboring Kufa Friday after agreeing to a peace deal brokered by Iraq's top spiritual leader to end three weeks of bloody fighting.    Al-Sadr issued the order in a statement to his Mahdi Army militia that also was broadcast through loudspeakers at the revered Imam Ali Shrine, which militants have used as a stronghold and refuge throughout their standoff with a combined U.S.-Iraqi force...
301702
SHIITE militia leader Moqtada Sadr has ceded control of his shrine stronghold to representatives of the religious leadership following a deal with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to end weeks of deadly fighting that has devastated the Iraqi city of Najaf.
269174
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has accepted a peace plan drafted by the Iraqi National Conference, which would include laying down arms and withdrawing his militia from a holy shrine in the city of Najaf, a delegate told the conference Wednesday.
34884
NAJAF, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accepted a peace plan Wednesday that would disarm his militia and remove them from their hideout in a revered shrine, raising hopes of resolving a crisis that has angered many of Iraq's majority Shiites and threatened to undermine the fledgling interim government.    But al-Sadr has made contradictory statements in the past, and aides to the cleric said he still wanted to negotiate details of the deal to end two weeks of fighting between his forces and U.S.-led troops...
28141
Anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his followers are ready to leave the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf if American-led forces pull back from the holy Shi&#39;ite site, an aide to Sadr says.
146717
U.S. commanders are again preparing for an assault on Najaf's Old City, which surrounds the rebel base at the shrine of Imam Ali.
52474
The top aide to Iraq's rebel Shi'ite  cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced on Thursday that Shi'ite  militiamen would hand over their weapons as part of a peace  initiative in Baghdad's Sadr City and other areas.