Militia Offers to Cede Control of 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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Militia fighters began to leave the Shrine of Imam Ali on Friday, taking up positions outside the sacred site or fleeing the city, after rebellious Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr offered to return custody of the complex to moderate clerics.
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Iraqi security forces tightened their grip around a key shrine in Najaf yesterday after the interim government warned Shia rebels inside they must surrender or die.
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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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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared yesterday he is prepared to withdraw his fighters occupying the revered Imam Ali shrine, a step that could end the two-week-old battle in Najaf. But al-Sadr&#39;s aides said talks ...
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Loyalists to Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remained in control of the gold-domed Imam Ali shrine yesterday after failing to reach an agreement with representatives of Iraq's most senior Shi'ite leader on how to hand over the holy site.
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BAGHDAD -- Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr signaled that he would accept a plea from Iraqi leaders to dissolve his militia and vacate the sacred Imam Ali shrine in Najaf. But he asked for further negotiations with Iraq's interim government to work out details, according to a letter from Sadr's office that was delivered yesterday to a political conference here.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq  -- A delegate at Iraq&#39;s National Conference in Baghdad says a militant Shiite cleric has agreed to disarm and pull his forces from a shrine in Najaf.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accepted a peace plan Wednesday that would disarm his militia and remove them from their hideout in a revered shrine, raising hopes of resolving a crisis that has angered many of Iraq's majority Shiites and threatened to undermine the fledgling interim government.    But al-Sadr has made contradictory statements in the past, and aides to the cleric said he still wanted to negotiate details of the deal to end two weeks of fighting between his forces and U.S.-led troops...
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Pakistani Muslim clerics said on Monday they were making a last-ditch bid to avert an assault on militants holed up in a mosque after authorities issued what they said was a last warning for them to surrender.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Militants filed out of the Imam Ali Shrine, closed the doors behind them and turned over the keys to Iraq's top Shiite cleric Friday, symbolizing their acceptance of a peace deal to end three weeks of devastating fighting in this holy city.    By Friday afternoon, dozens of Iraqi police and national guardsmen surrounded the shrine compound - many kissing its doors and weeping - as the government began to re-establish control over the Old City of Najaf...
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NAJAF, Iraq  - A radical cleric is preparing to hand control of a shrine at the heart of a Shi&#39;ite uprising in Iraq to religious authorities, but still rejects demands by the interim prime minister to disband his militia.
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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 -- Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr yesterday told his army of followers to hand control of a revered Najaf shrine to top Shi&#39;a religious authorities, hours after US forces bombed militant positions and Iraq&#39;s prime ...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr kept their hold on a revered shrine as clashes flared in Najaf on Sunday, raising fears a resolution to the crisis in the holy city could collapse amid bickering between Shiite leaders.    An unofficial mediator and distant relative of the cleric 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 - 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." We are in a race with time," said Hussein al-Sadr, a distant relative of the cleric...