Sadr militia still controls Najaf mosque, violence continues
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NAJAF, Iraq : Militiamen loyal to Moqtada Sadr were still holding Najaf&#39;s Imam Ali mosque Sunday, as smouldering violence and differences between Shiite leaders threatened to scupper efforts to end a weeks-long stand-off.
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Moktada al-Sadr, the rebel Shiite cleric, still retained control of a Najaf shrine, though there were signs his grip might be weakening.
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Renewed clashes erupted around the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf early today as yet another opportunity to end the bloody confrontation between anti-American cleric
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NAJAF, Iraq  Sporadic gunfire echoed through Najaf on Friday after a night of heavy US bombing that saw radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr order his fighters to hand control of a revered Najaf ...
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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 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...
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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.    Al-Sadr's followers remained in control of the walled shrine compound, but kept their guns outside...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Sporadic gunfire echoed through Najaf on Friday after a night of heavy U.S. bombing that saw radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr call on his fighters to hand control of a revered Najaf shrine to top Shiite religious authorities...
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Gunmen still patrol the centre of Iraq's holy city of Najaf  after 16 days of fighting and delicate talks.
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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 - 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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NAJAF, IRAQ - Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr faces an Iraqi offensive on his Najaf stronghold within hours, despite his apparent agreement to lay down arms, Iraqi cabinet officials said Thursday.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on  Tuesday refused to meet an Iraqi peace delegation because of  "American aggression" as U.S. troops pounded militia positions  in Najaf near the country's holiest Islamic sites.
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Fighting continued to rage in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf as Shiite rebels battle for control against US-led troops.
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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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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  - Shi'ite fighters appeared to be in  control of a holy shrine in Najaf on 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.