Disaffected Iraqis Spurn Dominant Shiite Clerics
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Two years after helping to bring to power a government led by Shiite religious parties, Iraq's paramount Shiite clerics find their influence diminished as their followers criticize them for backing a political alliance that has failed to pass crucial legislation, improve basic...
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Militants filed out of the Imam Ali Shrine, closed the doors behind them and turned over the keys to Iraq&#39;s top Shiite cleric Friday, symbolizing their acceptance of a peace deal to end three weeks of devastating fighting in this holy
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Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr avoids meeting with the council, though he claims to support their effort to end the fighting in the Shiite holy city.
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Iraqi political leaders arrived in the embattled city of Najaf Tuesday on a mission to persuade rebellious Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr to disband his militia, vacate a religious shrine and participate in the country's political process.
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All sides can claim partial victory in the Najaf crisis' resolution. Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has proven his power by securing a peace deal, and renegade Muqtada al-Sadr has escaped with his militia movement intact.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - A radical Iraqi cleric leading a  Shi'ite uprising agreed Wednesday to disarm his militia and  leave one of the country's holiest Islamic shrines after  warnings of an onslaught by government forces.
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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.    Iraq's highest Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, agreed to take control of the shrine, which al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia turned into a stronghold and refuge during their fight with U.S...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Thousands of pilgrims streamed into the Imam Ali Shrine on Friday, and militants who had been holed up in the site left it, handing the keys to Shiite religious authorities after Iraq's top Shiite cleric brokered a peace deal to end three weeks of fighting in this holy city.    Dozens of militants piled Kalashnikov rifles in front of the offices of their leader, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr...
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Iraq&#39;s majority Shiites have unveiled a major alliance ahead of next month&#39;s landmark elections that is backed by their highest religious leader - but which excludes radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
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KARBALA, Iraq -- Posted at the door of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's office recently, a flier denounced the arrest of his followers. Up and down the barricaded street, soldiers and policemen loyal to his Shiite rivals stood sentry, some in tan armored personnel carriers, questioning anyone they...
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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  - A radical Iraqi cleric leading a Shi&#39;ite uprising has agreed to disarm his militia and leave one of the country&#39;s holiest Islamic shrines after warnings of an onslaught by government forces.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Delegates at Iraq's National Conference called Monday for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to abandon his uprising against U.S. and Iraqi troops and pull his fighters out of a holy shrine in Najaf...
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Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq&#39;s top Shiite Muslim cleric, rarely speaks in public but wields leverage in shaping the future of postwar Iraq.
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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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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militiamen loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday removed their weapons from the revered Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf as part of an arrangement aimed at ending a 2-week-old anti-U.S. uprising centered on the holy site...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Followers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Friday they were preparing to hand control of the revered Imam Ali Shrine to top Shiite religious authorities in a bid to end a two-week-old uprising in the holy city of Najaf.    Al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany said he was on his way to the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric, to offer to present officials there with keys to the shrine...