Militia, Shiite Leaders Bicker Over Shrine
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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.    Despite the standoff, Najaf remained largely calm Saturday...
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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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Fighting in Najaf, a holy city for Shi&#39;ite Muslims in Iraq, is at crisis point. Militiamen led by anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are holed up in the golden-domed Imam Ali mosque in a standoff against Iraq&#39;s interim government and American troops.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - The deadly showdown between U.S. troops and Iraqi militants in Najaf dominated Iraq's national conference Monday, with tribal and religious leaders deciding to send 60 delegates to the holy city to persuade a radical Shiite cleric to call off his fighters...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to lay down their arms and leave the area as thousands of Iraqis thronged the revered Imam Ali shrine Friday after he and the Iraqi government agreed to a peace proposal by Iraq's top Shiite cleric to end three weeks of fighting in Najaf.    Al-Sadr issued the order in a statement to his Mahdi Army militia from his office in Najaf that also was broadcast through loudspeakers at the shrine, which militants have used as a stronghold and refuge throughout their standoff with a combined U.S.-Iraqi force...
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NAJAF, Iraq - Militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr surrendered the sacred shrine of Imam Ali on Friday and then surrendered weapons as well, bringing a largely peaceful end to a ferocious three-week battle with US forces that challenged the
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SPORADIC gunfire, explosions and a US bombing raid shook the city of Najaf yesterday as militants retained control of a revered shrine, raising fears that a plan to end the crisis could collapse amid bickering between Shiite leaders.
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Militia fighters began to leave the Shrine of Imam Ali yesterday, taking up positions outside the sacred site or fleeing the city, after rebellious Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr offered to return custody of the complex to moderate clerics.
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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.
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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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NAJAF: Radical Shi&#39;ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has urged his Mehdi Army followers to keep fighting the US-led forces attacking Najaf, but said he was willing to hand over the city shrine to religious leaders.
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BAGHDAD, Aug 29  - The Iraqi government and the office of Shiite Muslim radical leader Moqtada Sadr held talks Sunday to try to end continued fighting in his militia&#39;s Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - U.S. marines and Shi'ite militiamen  fought fierce battles around a shrine in the Iraqi city of  Najaf Monday in some of the heaviest fighting since the  20-day-old rebellion erupted.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Explosions and gunfire shook Najaf's Old City on Sunday in a fierce battle between U.S. forces and Shiite militants, as negotiations dragged on for the handover of the shrine that the fighters have used for their stronghold...
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Established Shiite parties and powerful upstarts are feuding, causing their leading cleric to try to pull them together to ensure that the Shiites clearly dominate the new government.
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Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accepted a peace plan Wednesday calling for his militiamen to disarm and leave their hideout in a revered Shiite shrine, raising hopes of ending a battle that has threatened to undermine Iraq's fledgling interim government.
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NAJAF, Iraq  Militants loyal to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Saturday that they handed over the keys to a revered Muslim shrine to Shiite religious leaders a big step toward resolving a 2-week-old standoff in the holy city of Najaf.