IMAM ALI SHRINE: Sistani takes control
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Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani resumed control over the Imam Ali shrine Friday while a final handful of militiamen loyal to a rebel Shiite cleric exited the compound after a deadly
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Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite Muslim cleric leading an insurgency in the holy city of Najaf, is preparing to hand over control of the city&#39;s Imam Ali Mosque to Iraqi religious authorities, Reuters reported, citing Sheikh Ali ...
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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.    Iraq's highest Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, agreed to take control of the shrine, which al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia turned into a stronghold and refuge during their fight with U.S...
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26 August 2004 -- Iraq&#39;s top Shi&#39;ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, arrived in the city of Al-Najaf today in a bid to end a weeks-long conflict between US forces and militiamen loyal to Shi&#39;ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
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NAJAF: Rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr and his Mehdi Army were preparing to hand over the keys to the Imam Ali shrine on Friday after Sadr agreed a peace initiative by Iraqâs top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to end fierce fighting in the
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Iraq&#39;s top Shi&#39;ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, made a dramatic return to Najaf on Thursday and won agreement from a rebel cleric and the government to end three weeks of fighting between his militia and US-Iraqi forces.
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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.
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The surprise return to Iraq of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country&#39;s most powerful religious leader, may help him win back support eroded by a radical Shi&#39;ite uprising.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Guns were largely silent in Najaf for the first time in weeks and thousands of Iraqis thronged the revered Imam Ali shrine Friday after Iraq's top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to this holy city and won agreement from a rebel cleric and the government to end the 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 Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani...
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters yesterday to hand control of a revered Najaf shrine to top Shi'ite religious authorities, hours after US forces bombed militant positions and Iraq's prime minister made a ''final call&quot; for the cleric's militia to surrender.
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Iraqi police took control of the Imam  Ali Mosque in the holy city of Najaf on Friday after entering  the shrine and finding that militia loyal to a radical cleric  had left, the Interior Ministry said.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Thousands of pilgrims streamed into the Imam Ali Shrine on Friday and militants left, handing the keys to Shiite religious authorities after Iraq's top Shiite cleric brokered a peace deal to end three weeks of fighting in this holy city.    Dozens of Iraqi police and national guardsmen deployed around the compound of the walled, golden-domed shrine in the Old City Friday afternoon - but did not enter...
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The crisis in Najaf seems as far away from a conclusion as ever, after 24 hours of confusion and contradiction. The shrine to Imam Ali is still unquestionably under the control of Moqtada Sadr and his men, despite earlier government statements.
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Rebel Shi'ite fighters appeared still to be in control of the Imam Ali mosque in the Iraqi city Najaf early on Saturday, but the whereabouts of their leader, the fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, were unknown.
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Guerrillas loyal to Moktada al-Sadr ceded control of the holy site to the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, but did not give up their guns.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Thousands of pilgrims streamed into the Imam Ali Shrine on Friday, and militants who had been holed up in the site left it, handing the keys to Shiite religious authorities after Iraq's top Shiite cleric brokered a peace deal to end three weeks of fighting in this holy city.    Dozens of militants piled Kalashnikov rifles in front of the offices of their leader, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr...
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NAJAF, Iraq  - With his militants and human  shields holed up inside one of Shi'ite Islam's most sacred  shrines, radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is playing a  shrewd waiting game before an expected American-led offensive.