US forces and Shiite militants fought fierce battles today marked by explosions and gunfire near a revered shrine in Najaf, as the US military stepped up pressure on the insurgents to quickly hand over the holy site to Shiite religious authorities.

Delegates at Iraq’s National Conference called on radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to abandon his uprising against US and Iraqi troops and pull his fighters out of a holy shrine in Najaf.

British forces clashed with a rebel Shiite cleric’s militia which had threatened to unleash 1,000 fighters in Basra today unless four arrested men were freed.

British soldiers clashed with Shiite fighters loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in south-eastern Iraq today after they arrested one of the militia’s leaders.

THE US agreed to suspend offensive operations in Najaf yesterday after Iraqi leaders struck a deal with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end a stand-off threatening some of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines.

The US-led coalition agreed today to suspend offensive operations in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf after Shiite leaders struck a deal with rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end the bloody standoff which has threatened some of Shia Islam’s holiest shrines.

ONE of the most sacred shrines of Shia Islam was damaged during clashes between US forces and radical Shi’ite militiamen that killed at least 13 Iraqis, some of them civilians.

Parts of one of the most sacred shrines of Shia Islam suffered damage during clashes today between US forces and radical Shiite militiamen that left at least nine people dead.

At least one person was killed and 20 were injured in overnight fighting between US forces and fighters loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Najaf, officials said today.

American troops fought militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today in the southern city of Karbala, but the city of Najaf was relatively quiet following intense clashes yesterday.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard today in the holy city of Karbala, where American troops are battling fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Black smoke rose near the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the most sacred sites of Shia Islam.