Diplomatic bid to head off US assault on Holy city

Diplomatic efforts to end a standoff between US troops and an anti-American cleric in one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam pressed forward today and an Iraqi leader said he saw “flexibility” on the side of the charismatic cleric, who heads a militia with several thousand members.

US commanders said they expect to soon rotate some of the troops surrounding Najaf, a sign that imminent combat is not expected.

Meanwhile, there was a new report of a kidnapping in Iraq, and news that a Chinese man kidnapped on Wednesday had been released.

The Danish Foreign Ministry said a Danish businessman is believed to have been abducted. The kidnapping would raise to at least 20 the number of foreigners abducted in Iraq. On Wednesday, kidnappers executed an Italian hostage, the first known killing of a hostage during the current crisis.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday that the death toll of US troops in recent fighting in Iraq was higher than he had expected, acknowledging a change in plans as he announced thousands of soldiers would not be coming home as early as promised.

Rumsfeld described a decision to keep some 20,000 troops inside Iraq longer than originally planned, telling reporters at the Pentagon: “I certainly would not have estimated that we would have had the number of individuals lost that we have had lost in the last week.”

Iranian envoy Hossein Sadeghi was in Najaf today but representatives of Muqtada al-Sadr said the envoy had no meetings with the anti-American cleric.

Sadeghi’s visit was arranged by Britain and appeared to have the approval of the United States, reflecting an eagerness to find a solution that would avert a US assault on the city.

Gunmen yesterday assassinated an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad. Iranian Embassy officials were investigating whether there was a link between the assassination and the envoy’s visit. Diplomat Khalil Naimi was not a member of the Iranian negotiating team.

Shiite Governing Council member Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he saw “flexibility from al-Sadr’s side” and called on the Americans to show “similar flexibility”.

US forces were also surrounding the city of Fallujah, the site of fierce fighting that has left hundreds of Iraqis dead.

Iraq’s top US administrator, Paul Bremer, was involved in “multiple channels” to try to negotiate an end to the standoff in the south and in Fallujah, said US Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But Myers warned there was a limit as to how long the US Marines could wait. “At some point somebody has to make a decision on what we’re going to do, and we certainly can’t rule out the use of force there again,” he told a news conference.

US AC-130 Spectre gunships were in action over Fallujah before dawn today, raking militant hideouts with machine gun fire.

Some 2,000 insurgents are believed to be in Fallujah.

Militants fired mortar shells at US positions in Fallujah. One shell hit the roof of a building that Marines control, but there were no reports of casualties.

There were signs of progress in talks to end the standoff in Fallujah, a stronghold of anti-American militants in overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim central Iraq. Mosques in Fallujah called on police and Iraqi Civil Defence Corps members to report to their positions on Friday.

Many members of the police and security forces abandoned their posts during the past 11 days of fighting.

Some 2,500 US. Troops are also ringing the southern city of Najaf.

US commanders have vowed to “kill or capture” Sadr, but have so far limited their actions to small skirmishes on the outskirts of the city.

The decision to keep more US troops in Iraq breaks a promise to soldiers who were assured they would stay no more than one year. By extending their tours of duty by up to three months, the Pentagon is acknowledging that the insurgency has ruined its plans to reduce the size of the US military presence this spring.

Those staying include two brigades from the 1st Armoured Division, based in Germany, said General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, totalling as many as 14,000 troops. An additional 2,800 soldiers are from the 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Polk, Louisiana. These are forces geared for heavy ground combat, with tanks and armoured Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

The rest include Army National Guard and Reserve units, Pace said. Most are military police, engineer and transportation units, according to the Pentagon.