Shiite leader bids to end Najaf fighting

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to the violence-wracked city of Najaf today aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between US forces and Shiite militants.

But just hours before the arrival of Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani’s massive convoy, a mortar barrage slammed into a mosque compound in nearby Kufa packed with Iraqis preparing to march, killing 27 people and wounding 63 others. It was not known who launched the attack.

Soon after, another group of thousands of marchers heading into Najaf from its sister-city Kufa came under fire from an Iraqi National Guard base. At least three people were killed and 46 wounded.

The fighting in Najaf has killed scores of civilians and nearly paralysed the city since it began on August 5.

Since yesterday, 55 people have been killed and 376 injured during clashes in Najaf, said Sa’ad al-Amili of the Health Ministry. At least 40 people were killed in Kufa over the same period.

Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi declared a 24-hour cease-fire in Najaf coinciding with al-Sistani’s arrival “to confirm our commitment to peace” and to give his peace efforts a chance. US forces and the militants said they would honour the cease-fire.

The heavy fighting in Najaf appeared to ease when al-Sistani arrived, though gunfire still echoed sporadically across the city.

Several hundred yards from the house where al-Sistani was staying, al-Sadr’s fighters and Iraqi security forces exchanged fire. At least three people were wounded, carried away on stretchers.

Hours later, gunbattles and an explosion could be heard again in the Old City, but other parts of Najaf were quiet apart for the sound of patrolling US helicopters clattering overhead.

The arrival of al-Sistani, the nation’s most revered Shiite leader, brought new hope for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in the holy city.

Al-Sistani has declined to get involved in previous crises, but he returned from London armed with a peace initiative and determined to rescue Najaf from further bloodshed, his aides said.

Al-Sistani was expected to hold direct talks with rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia has battled US forces for weeks, said al-Sadr aide, Ahmed al-Shaibany.

The cleric left the southern city of Basra today in an armoured car travelling in a 30-vehicle convoy that was greeted by thousands of enthusiastic supporters along the way.

He arrived in Najaf just before 3 p.m. and went directly to one of his houses in the al-Sa’ad neighbourhood, about a mile from the revered Imam Ali Shrine where the militants were holed up.

Iraqi police surrounded the house and sealed off all roads leading to it.

Al-Sistani is calling for Najaf and Kufa to be declared weapons-free cities, for all foreign forces to withdraw from Najaf and leave security to the police, and for the government to compensate those harmed by the fighting here.

“Extensive efforts are being exerted to implement the initiative,” said Hamed al-Khafaf, an al-Sistani aide. “Contacts are now going on to solve the crisis. The atmosphere is positive.”

Allawi expressed hope the peace initiative would succeed so the government would not have to resort to its long-threatened raid on the shrine.

“I stress that this is the last call for peace and that this is the last chance to put an end to the spilling of innocent blood,” Allawi said in a statement. “God willing, our prayers for Iraq’s peace and stable security will be met.”

A militant group holding three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian hostage dropped nearly all its demands today and will release the men if their Kuwaiti trucking company agrees to stop working in Iraq, according to a video shown on Al-Arabiya television.

The drivers were abducted on July 21 and threatened with beheading if their company did not leave Iraq and their countries did not withdraw all their citizens.

The group later added new demands, calling for reparations for the people of the Iraqi city of Fallujah, and the release of all Iraqi prisoners held in Kuwait and by US forces.

The voice in the video said the group, calling itself “The Holders of the Black Banners”, would drop its demands.