Shiite militants hold onto shrine amid disputes over its handover ...
82115
By Abdul Hussein Al-Obeidi, Associated Press, 8/21/2004 14:03. 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
236793
NAJAF, Iraq  - US marines and a radical Iraqi cleric are locked in a tense standoff after the firebrand leader refused to leave a holy shrine in Najaf despite earlier agreeing to disarm his militia and withdraw.
728962
NAJAF, Iraq - Militants loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr remained in control of a revered Shiite shrine at the center of the crisis in Najaf on Saturday, as they bickered with top Shiite religious leaders over how to hand the holy site over.    As the standoff dragged on, heavy clashes broke out for about 45 minutes near the cemetery and the Old City on Saturday afternoon between al-Sadr's militiamen and U.S...
129721
Loyalists of Moqtada Sadr remained in control of Imam Ali shrine after failing to reach an agreement with Shiite leader on how to hand over the holy site.
208511
NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces battled militants in Najaf on Tuesday and Iraqi National Guardsmen surrounded the holy city's Imam Ali Shrine, where insurgents loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been holed up for weeks...
386547
NAJAF, Iraq -- Militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr say they have handed over the keys of a revered Muslim shrine in Najaf to Shiite religious leaders, the Associated Press reports.
423650
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 ...
90341
NAJAF, Iraq  - Shi'ite fighters appeared to be in  control of a holy shrine in Najaf 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.
354700
NAJAF, Iraq  - Tens of thousands of chanting Iraqi  Shi'ites converged on a holy shrine in Najaf on Friday, where  some rebels began handing in weapons after a peace deal was  reached overnight to end a three-week uprising.
763862
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...
701141
Shiite fighters left the holiest shrine in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Friday and began turning in their weapons, after tens of thousands of pilgrims celebrated a peace agreement that ended a bloody rebellion.
60031
NAJAF, Iraq - Thousands of pilgrims streamed into the Imam Ali Shrine on Friday and militants left, 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 Iraqi police and national guardsmen deployed around the compound of the walled, golden-domed shrine in the Old City Friday afternoon - but did not enter...
328169
NAJAF, Iraq  - The fate of a radical Shi'ite  rebellion in the holy city of Najaf was uncertain Friday amid  disputed reports that Iraqi police had gained control of the  Imam Ali Mosque.
428435
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.
276332
When shrapnel lands in Najaf&#39;s Imam Ali shrine, Shi&#39;ite militants holed up inside the sacred complex casually inspect the hot metal and then return to prayers or chanting defiant slogans.
280157
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...
515681
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Talks to end fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City have stalled, with the government refusing militant demands for American troops to keep out of the troubled district, negotiators for the militants said Wednesday...