US FORCES and Shi'ite militants fought fierce battles yesterday near a revered shrine in Najaf, as the US military stepped up pressure on the insurgents to quickly hand over the holy site to Shi'ite religious authorities.

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.

Explosions and gunfire shook Najaf’s Old City in a fierce battle between US forces and Shiite militants, who remained in control of a revered shrine here as negotiations dragged on for its handover to religious authorities.

REBEL Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s gunmen removed their weapons from the revered Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf yesterday in a step aimed at ending the two-week-old uprising.