Iraq Shi'ite leader wants U.S.-backed units curbed
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A powerful Shi'ite Muslim leader in Iraq called on Friday for U.S.-backed, mainly Sunni neighborhood patrols to be brought under tight government control with a more balanced sectarian makeup.
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Rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr  has ordered his militia to end attacks on U.S. and Iraqi  government forces and will soon unveil plans to pursue his  goals through politics rather than conflict, aides said on  Monday.
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Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric urged followers on Monday not to seek revenge against Sunni Arabs on the first anniversary of a Shi'ite shrine bombing that has pitched the country to the brink of civil war.
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Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered Iraq's military commanders on Tuesday to speed up preparations for a U.S.-backed crackdown in Baghdad after a string of attacks killed hundreds of people in recent days.
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BAGHDAD, Dec. 10 -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Sunday strongly rejected a bipartisan U.S. panel's report on U.S. war strategy in Iraq, calling some of its recommendations "dangerous" and a threat to his country's sovereignty.
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Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr could end a ban on his militia's activities because of rising anger over U.S. and Iraqi raids against his followers, an aide said Friday amid concerns about rising violence and clashes between rival factions in the mainly Shiite south.
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As one of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite faction leaders visited the White House on Monday, the United States made an urgent plea to Iraqis to resist a cycle of violence that will "destroy you and your country".
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NAJAF, Iraq  - An Iraqi peace delegation has urged a radical Shi&#39;ite cleric to call off his uprising in the city of Najaf, where US troops have been pounding militia positions near the country&#39;s holiest Islamic sites.
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One of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite leaders told President Bush on Monday that civil war could only be staved off if U.S. forces struck harder against Sunni-led insurgents.
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KERBALA, Iraq  - Iraq's ruling Shi'ite leaders on Friday urged neighboring states and Western powers to join forces to help prevent an all-out civil war that could spread across the oil-rich region.
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Iraq&#39;s top Shi&#39;ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged his supporters converging on Najaf on Thursday not to enter the battered holy city until he arrived, a senior aide said.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - A senior Shi'ite cleric urged  Iraqis on Saturday to boycott Sunday's landmark elections and  take up arms to expel U.S. forces from the country.
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"There are tribal sheiks out there who say 'Hey, just allow me to be the local security force. I don't care what you call me. ... You can call me whatever you want. Just give me the right training and equipment and I'll secure my area."  Parliament voted Monday in a closed session to remove the speaker after a series of scandals involving the controversial lawmaker, legislators said. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani will be replaced by another Sunni Arab, they said.The U.S. military, meanwhile, said three American soldiers were killed and six were wounded, along with an interpreter, Sunday when a suicide car bomber brought down a section bridge south of Baghdad on Iraq's main north-south artery.'The efforts to clear the road continue,' said Lt. Col. Randy Martin, a U.S. military spokesman. Read more
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Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr resurfaced Friday after nearly four months in hiding and demanded U.S. troops leave Iraq, a development likely to complicate U.S. efforts to crack down on violence and broker political compromise in the country.
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Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday told insurgents fighting his U.S.-backed government to accept an olive branch or face a security crackdown that will cover "every inch" of Iraq.
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Influential members of Muqtada al-Sadr's movement have urged the anti-U.S. Shiite cleric not to extend a cease-fire when it expires next month, officials said Monday, a move that could jeopardize recent security gains.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq  - Rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada  al-Sadr has ordered his militia to end attacks on U.S. and  Iraqi government forces and will soon unveil plans to pursue  his goals through politics rather than conflict, aides said  Monday.