Iraq peace mission rebuffed amid air strikes

Iraqi delegates delivered a peace proposal to aides of Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf, but the militant cleric refused to meet with them as explosions, gunfire and a US air strike on the sprawling cemetery echoed across the holy city.

The delegation was kept waiting for three hours yesterday at the Imam Ali shrine, where some of al-Sadr’s fighters have holed up, but was not allowed to meet with the cleric and left Najaf after talking with his aides.