Heavy clashes in Iraq holy city as shrine handover suspended

NAJAF – Heavy clashes erupted between US troops and Shi’ite militiamen in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf yesterday after the proposed handover of the militia’s shrine stronghold to the Shi’ite religious leadership was suspended.

Despite the rumbling crisis, which has helped world oil prices to historic highs, crude exports from southern Iraq returned to their normal level overnight, the state-owned firm which operates the fields said. Fighters loyal to Shi’ite radical leader Moqtada Sadr launched multiple attacks on US tanks, parked around 300 metres away from the Imam Ali shrine, as the reverberations of gunfire and mortar bombs could be heard from inside the mosque compound, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.Overnight, US warplanes pounded the city, causing three large explosions near the mausoleum, as the US army confirmed military operations were continuing at the request of the Iraqi government.American troops backing Iraqi forces in Najaf had scaled back their deployment on Saturday, but an AFP correspondent said Sunday’s clashes were more intense than the sporadic firing the previous day.Some two days after spokesmen for both Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani announced the deal to hand over the keys to the shrine, which the Mehdi Army have occupied since their April uprising, talks bogged down.”We do not know how long it will take.It all depends on the situation and Sistani,” Sadr’s junior spokesman Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani told AFP in Najaf.”The matter is suspended as of now, because we are awaiting the response from Sistani about forming the committee” tasked with carrying out a full inventory of the shrine’s priceless works of art and alms.Sistani has been reluctant to take back the shrine without ensuring that nothing is missing and the Mehdi Army is unwilling to surrender control amid any suggestion of impropriety.In the southern cities of Basra and Amara, clashes also flared between British-led forces and the Mehdi Army overnight, with patrols and coalition bases coming under small arms and mortar fire, a spokeswoman said.The two-week crisis in Najaf has provided the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi since his caretaker government received full powers with the formal winding up of the US-led occupation on June 28.- Nampa-AFPFighters loyal to Shi’ite radical leader Moqtada Sadr launched multiple attacks on US tanks, parked around 300 metres away from the Imam Ali shrine, as the reverberations of gunfire and mortar bombs could be heard from inside the mosque compound, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.Overnight, US warplanes pounded the city, causing three large explosions near the mausoleum, as the US army confirmed military operations were continuing at the request of the Iraqi government.American troops backing Iraqi forces in Najaf had scaled back their deployment on Saturday, but an AFP correspondent said Sunday’s clashes were more intense than the sporadic firing the previous day.Some two days after spokesmen for both Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani announced the deal to hand over the keys to the shrine, which the Mehdi Army have occupied since their April uprising, talks bogged down.”We do not know how long it will take.It all depends on the situation and Sistani,” Sadr’s junior spokesman Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani told AFP in Najaf.”The matter is suspended as of now, because we are awaiting the response from Sistani about forming the committee” tasked with carrying out a full inventory of the shrine’s priceless works of art and alms.Sistani has been reluctant to take back the shrine without ensuring that nothing is missing and the Mehdi Army is unwilling to surrender control amid any suggestion of impropriety.In the southern cities of Basra and Amara, clashes also flared between British-led forces and the Mehdi Army overnight, with patrols and coalition bases coming under small arms and mortar fire, a spokeswoman said.The two-week crisis in Najaf has provided the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi since his caretaker government received full powers with the formal winding up of the US-led occupation on June 28.- Nampa-AFP