Delegates began voting today for members of the new Iraqi National Council but said they would not send another delegation to the holy city of Najaf after a failed mission to end nearly two weeks of fighting there between US forces and Shiite militants.

Thousands of American and Iraqi soldiers launched a major assault on militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf today.

Explosions and gunfire echoed across the holy city of Najaf today as the US military and Iraqi forces launched a full-scale assault to crush a weeklong uprising by militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.