Militants filed out of the revered Imam Ali Shrine and turned its keys over to representatives of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric today in the wake of a peace agreement to end three weeks of fighting with US and Iraqi forces in this holy city.

Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi has declared a 24-hour cease-fire from the time Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini Al-Sistani arrived in Najaf to give the militants a chance to decide whether to accept the cleric's peace plan.

Gunmen opened fire today on thousands of Shiite Muslim marchers heading from Kufa to the twin city of Najaf, killing at least one.

IRAQ’S most powerful Shi’ite cleric arrived home from Britain yesterday and his aides called for a nationwide march to Najaf to end nearly three weeks of fierce fighting between US forces and Shi’ite militants in the holy city.