Militants vow to vacate Najaf mosque
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NAJAF, Iraq (CNN) -- Fighting between US forces and fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr resumed Saturday outside the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi made a "final call" Thursday to Shiite militants in Najaf to disarm and withdraw from a revered shrine or face a massive onslaught by Iraqi forces to root them out.    The last-ditch warning came shortly after the militants' leader, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, rejected those demands with a vow to seek "martyrdom or victory." Just hours before al-Sadr's defiant statement, fighters presumably from his Mahdi Army militia bombarded a Najaf police station with mortar rounds, killing seven policemen and injuring 31...
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Fighters loyal to rebel Shi'ite  cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were firmly in control of Najaf's Imam  Ali mosque on Saturday, giving the lie to government claims  that police had taken control of the shrine.
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr say they have handed over the keys of a revered Muslim shrine in Najaf to Shiite religious leaders, the Associated Press reports.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr kept their hold on a revered shrine, and clashes flared in Najaf on Saturday, raising fears that a resolution to the crisis in the holy city could collapse amid bickering between Shiite leaders.    An unofficial mediator pleaded with al-Sadr to disarm his militants, pull them out of the shrine and disband his militia immediately." We are in a race with time," said Hussein al-Sadr, a distant relative of the cleric...
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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...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to lay down their arms and leave the area as thousands of Iraqis thronged the revered Imam Ali shrine Friday after he and the Iraqi government agreed to a peace proposal by Iraq's top Shiite cleric to end three weeks of fighting in Najaf.    Al-Sadr issued the order in a statement to his Mahdi Army militia from his office in Najaf that also was broadcast through loudspeakers at the shrine, which militants have used as a stronghold and refuge throughout their standoff with a combined U.S.-Iraqi force...
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NAJAF, Iraq  Followers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Friday they were preparing to hand control of the revered Imam Ali Shrine to top Shiite religious authorities in a ...
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Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called on his fighters to lay down arms and leave the holy city of Najaf. It follows a deal brokered by Iraq&#39;s top Shiite cleric that ended weeks of violence.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Radical Shi&#39;ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has agreed to disarm his Iraqi militia and leave a holy shrine but only after a truce with encircling US marines.
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NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces battled militants Tuesday in Najaf, sending plumes of black smoke over the holy city as Iraq's government warned fighters loyal to a radical cleric "they have hours to surrender" in their weekslong standoff inside the Imam Ali Shrine or face attack...
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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.    Despite the standoff, Najaf remained largely calm Saturday...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Insurgents loyal to a radical Shiite cleric bombarded a Najaf police station with mortars Thursday, killing seven policemen and wounding 31 people as the interim Iraqi government issued an ultimatum to the fighters to disarm immediately or face a massive offensive.    Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi made what he said was a "final call" to the Shiite militants in Najaf to disarm and vacate the revered Imam Ali Shrine, although he did not set a deadline...
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Militants loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said yesterday they had handed over the keys to a revered Muslim shrine in the holy city of Najaf to top Shiite religious leaders, a move that marks a crucial step towards ending two weeks of fighting.
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NAJAF, AUGUST 27: Militants filed out of the revered Imam Ali shrine and turned its keys over to representatives of Iraqâs top Shiite cleric today in the wake of a peace agreement to end three weeks of fighting with US and Iraqi forces in Najaf.
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Militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr kept their hold on a revered shrine, and clashes flared in Najaf on Saturday, raising fears that a resolution to the crisis in the holy city could collapse amid bickering between Shiite leaders.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Fighters loyal to Iraqi cleric  Moqtada al-Sadr retained their grip on the Imam Ali shrine in  Najaf on Saturday, dampening hopes that talks with religious  authorities would quickly end a two-week siege.