Iraqi conference set to choose National Council

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.

Amid the clashes, an eight-member delegation from the conference flew to Najaf yesterday to try to persuade Muqtada al-Sadr to abandon his uprising.

The delegation met the firebrand cleric’s aides, but al-Sadr himself failed to show up to meet them.

“If there were anyone sympathising with him in the past, there will be none from now on because of this stand,” delegate Abdul-Halim al-Ruhaimi said today.

Al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany said the cleric did not show because of the “heavy shelling from the planes and tanks of the US forces”.

Sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard in Najaf again today as clashes continued. Fighting in Najaf has killed six people and wounded 23 others since last night, Hussein Hadi of Najaf General Hospital, said.

In Baghdad, a mortar round hit the roof of Iraq’s Foreign Ministry building today, causing no damage or injuries, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said.

The blast shook the convention centre where the National Conference was being held inside the heavily fortified Green Zone enclave, which is home to Iraqi government offices and the US Embassy.

The Iraqi National Conference, a gathering of more than 1,000 religious, political and civic leaders was extended a fourth day into today because of disagreements over how to elect a council that is to act as a watchdog over the interim government until elections in January.

The fighting in Najaf, especially near the revered Imam Ali shrine, where al-Sadr’s militants are holed up, has angered many among the country’s majority Shiite population and cast a pall over the conference, which had been intended to project an image of amity and inclusiveness on the road to democracy.

The delegation’s peace initiative yesterday demanded that al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia disarm, leave the Imam Ali shrine and become a political group in exchange for amnesty.

“These delegates will not go again, they presented their proposal, the ball is now in his (al-Sadr’s) court,” an official said. He said a new delegation could go to Najaf from the 100-member council after it is established.

The US military said it did not conduct offensive operations during the meeting between the delegation and al-Sadr’s aides at the shrine.

“We sat still during the entire time on purpose,” said Major David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment.