Najaf deal could spell trouble for US
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Thousands of peaceful Shiite Muslims on Friday reclaimed the Imam Ali mosque from militants loyal to maverick cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who called on his followers to lay down their arms.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - If U.S. and Iraqi troops launch a  major assault on radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's militants,  they will have to pass through sniper-infested streets to root  them out of a mosque they can't afford to harm.
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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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Friday&#39;s defusing of the three-week military standoff in Najaf has the disappointing result that Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his militia survive to fight another battle, threatening US military forces and the fledgling Iraqi government.
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WASHINGTON : The United States pulled its punch in Iraq as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced US forces arrayed in Najaf against Shiite militants of firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr were &quot;unlikely&quot; to storm the town&#39;s holy places to deal the militia ...
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If the agreement is fulfilled  and al-Sadr has made contradictory statements in the past  it would resolve a crisis that had angered many of Iraq&#39;s majority Shiites and threatened to undermine the fledgling interim government of Prime Minister ...
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Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr  may have escaped the U.S.-led military siege of the Imam Ali  Mosque in Najaf, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said on Friday.
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NAJAF, Iraq -- In a shabby but spotless living room in the holy city of Najaf, a top deputy of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr quietly sketched out his vision of the Iraq to come, after the Americans withdraw.
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Iraq&#39;s most revered Shiite religious authority has agreed Thursday a &quot;very positive&quot; deal with rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to end a three-week uprising in the holy city of Najaf, as tensions were inflamed by attacks on Shiite marchers that killed at
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Sporadic gunfire, explosions and a US bombing raid shook the city of Najaf today as militants retained control of a revered shrine, raising fears that a plan to end the crisis could collapse amid bickering between Shiite leaders.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accepted a peace plan Wednesday to end fighting in Najaf that would disarm his militiamen and remove them from a holy shrine where they are hiding out, according to an al-Sadr spokesman. However, al-Sadr wanted to negotiate how the deal would be implemented...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Explosions and gunfire shook Najaf's Old City on Sunday in a fierce battle between U.S. forces and Shiite militants, as negotiations dragged on for the handover of the revered shrine that the fighters have used for their stronghold...
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The Bush administration reacted cautiously Wednesday to reports that the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had accept a peace plan to end fighting in Najaf.
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US forces drew nearer to the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf on Monday, the site of a standoff between the American military and militants loyal to Shi&#39;ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr that&#39;s lasted almost three weeks.
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The battle of Najaf, in which Iraq&#39;s fledgling government is being held to ransom by the occupation of Shia Islam&#39;s holiest site, can be traced to American political and military failures in recent months.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - The deadly showdown between U.S. troops and Iraqi militants in Najaf dominated Iraq's national conference Monday, with tribal and religious leaders deciding to send 60 delegates to the holy city to persuade a radical Shiite cleric to call off his fighters...
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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.