Sadr Militia Still Controls Iraq Shrine -- Witness
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Shi'ite fighters appeared to be in  control of a holy shrine in Najaf Friday, hours after Iraq's  interim government said it had overcome a bloody uprising by  seizing the Imam Ali mosque without a shot being fired.
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Fighting was still raging near a holy shrine in the city of Najaf shortly after the government announced Iraqi police had entered the site peacefully Friday, witnesses said.
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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  - A radical cleric prepared to hand  control of a shrine at the heart of a Shi'ite uprising in Iraq  to religious authorities on Friday, but still rejected demands  by the interim prime minister to disband his militia.
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Loyalists of Moqtada Sadr remained in control of Imam Ali shrine after failing to reach an agreement with Shiite leader on how to hand over the holy site.
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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.
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NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces battled militants in Najaf on Tuesday and Iraqi National Guardsmen surrounded the holy city's Imam Ali Shrine, where insurgents loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been holed up for weeks...
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NAJAF, Iraq - A rebel cleric's militiamen kept their guns outside a holy site Friday after issuing a surprise offer to give up control of the Imam Ali Shrine to Shiite Muslim religious leaders, but negotiators wrangled into the night over getting the militants out of the compound.    The removal of weapons and pledge to hand over keys to religious authorities was seen as a big step toward a resolution of the two-week faceoff in Najaf that has killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds in fighting between Muqtada al-Sadr's militia and a joint U.S.-Iraq force...
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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.
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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.    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...
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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...
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Shi'ite fighters appeared still to  be in control of a holy shrine in Najaf on Friday after Iraq's  interim government said it had overcome a bloody uprising by  seizing the Imam Ali mosque without a shot being fired.
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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  - Iraq&#39;s radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr refused on Tuesday to meet a delegation of Iraqi political and religious leaders seeking to end a rebellion in the holy city of Najaf and other parts of the country.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Militants loyal to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Saturday that 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 toward ending two weeks of fighting.    The militants, however, remain in control of the Imam Ali Shrine while final details of the transfer are worked out, said al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany...
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Shi'ite fighters appeared to be in  control of a holy shrine in Najaf Friday hours after Iraq's  interim government said it had overcome a bloody uprising by  seizing the Imam Ali mosque without a shot being fired.
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By Abdul Hussein Al-Obeidi, Associated Press, 8/21/2004 14:03. 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