Iraq&#39;s Top Cleric Arrives in Najaf to Press for Peace
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Iraq&#39;s top Shi&#39;ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has arrived in Najaf in a bid to end to weeks of fighting between Shi&#39;ite militiamen and US and Iraqi forces.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Thousands of pilgrims streamed into the Imam Ali Shrine on Friday and filed out mixed with militants who had been holed up inside, leaving the holy site nearly empty after Iraq's top Shiite cleric brokered a peace deal to end three weeks of fighting in this holy city.    Hours earlier, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a statement broadcast over the shrine's loudspeakers, ordering his fighters to lay down their arms and leave Najaf and neighboring Kufa...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed Thursday to a peace deal presented by Iraq's top Shiite cleric, who brought his enormous authority to bear in an attempt to end three weeks of fighting in the holy city of Najaf, a top al-Sistani aide said.    Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential cleric among Iraq's Shiite majority, reached the deal in direct talks with al-Sadr in the evening, only hours after making a dramatic return to Najaf...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Hoping to end weeks of fighting in Najaf, Iraq's top Shiite cleric unexpectedly returned home from Britain on Wednesday armed with a new peace initiative and a call for Iraqis across the country to march on the holy city.    Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini Al-Sistani, who wields enormous influence among Shiite Iraqis, had previously declined to get involved in resolving the violent conflicts roiling the nation, and it was unclear why he suddenly changed his mind...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to Najaf at the head of a massive convoy Thursday hoping to end three weeks of fighting in the holy city. But hours earlier, a mortar barrage hit a mosque filled with Iraqis preparing to join his march, killing 27 people and wounding 63...
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Iraq&#39;s most respected Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made a dramatic return to the country Wednesday and urged all Iraqi Muslims to join him on a march to the
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Iraq's top Shiite cleric called Saturday for Muslim unity and an end to sectarian conflict, his first public statement in months on the worsening security crisis.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, returned to the country from Britain on Wednesday and his aides called for a nationwide march to Najaf to end nearly three weeks of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants in this holy city...
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Iraq&#39;s top Shiite cleric unexpectedly returned to Iraq from Britain on Wednesday armed with a new peace initiative and a call for Iraqis across the country to march
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Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, returned to the country on Wednesday and urged Iraqis to march on the "burning city" of Najaf, where fighting is creeping ever closer to its sacred shrine.
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Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric was due to travel to Najaf on Thursday after making a surprise return to the country to try to end bitter fighting creeping ever closer to the city's holiest shrine.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to Najaf at the head of a massive convoy Thursday hoping to end three weeks of fighting in the holy city, but hours earlier a mortar barrage slammed into a mosque filled with Iraqis preparing to join his march, killing 27 people and wounding 63.    Along with the mortar attack, another group of thousands of marchers heading into Najaf from its sister-city Kufa came under fire from an Iraqi National Guard base...
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Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, arrived in Najaf today hours after a mortar barrage hit a mosque in Kufa, killing at least 27 people.
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NAJAF, IRAQ - Militant leader Muqtada al-Sadr agreed on Thursday to a peace plan presented by Iraq&#39;s most revered Shia cleric, who rode into Najaf hours earlier to try to end the bloody three-week uprising.
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Iraq&#39;s leading Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, will present a three-point plan to end fighting in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf when he arrives there today, Agence France-Presse reported.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric made a  sudden return to the country Wednesday and said he had a plan  to end an uprising in the "burning city" of Najaf, where  fighting is creeping ever closer to its holiest shrine.
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The country&#39;s most revered Shiite cleric returned to Iraq today after surgery in Britain, raising hopes that the rebellion here against the American