- Title: IRAQ: SCENES IN NAJAF AS TRUCE TALKS COLLAPSE.
- Date: 14th August 2004
- Summary: (W5) NAJAF, IRAQ (AUGUST 14, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/TRACK: STREETS OF NAJAF (4 SHOTS) 0.40 2. VARIOUS: MOURNING AND FUNERAL FOR MEHDI ARMY FIGHTER TAKING PLACE AT MOSQUE (14 SHOTS) 2.07 3. GV: NAJAP ROOFTOPS, SKYLINE (3 SHOTS) 2.25 4. MV/CU: MEHDI ARMY WITH RPGs AND WEAPONS (5 SHOTS) 2.57 5. MV/MV/PAN: MEHDI ARMY WANDERING STREETS, LOOKING AT ROCKET LAUNCHER (3 SHOTS) 3.24 6. VARIOUS: IRAQIS IN IMAM ALI SHRINE, ACTING AS HUMAN SHIELDS AGAINST ANY U.S. ATTACK (7 SHOTS) 4.13 7. GV/GV/PAN: IRAQI POLICE FROM FALLUJA (SUNNIS) DELIVERING AID TO IRAQI POLICE IN NAJAF (4 SHOTS) 4.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 29th August 2004 13:00
- Keywords: insurgents
- Location: NAJAF, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVADMYUM8IWWN9Z9KMLERLCIVFHO
- Story Text: Iraq's national security adviser says truce talks in
Najaf collapse.
Talks to end the conflict in Najaf between U.S.
and Iraqi forces and radical Shi'ite militiamen have
collapsed, Iraq's national security adviser Mowaffaq
al-Rubaie said on Saturday (August 14).
"The talks have failed. All efforts to end this have
not succeeded," he told reporters.
Militants loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr have been battling U.S. and Iraqi forces in the
sacred city of Najaf for 10 days in fighting that has
killed hundreds and sent thousands of protesters to the
streets.
A truce had held since Friday (August 13) but tensions
remained high as the Mehdi Army buried another of its dead.
The truce appeared to be holding in the holy city early
on Saturday despite radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's threat
to fight to the death, allowing some residents to venture
out and inspect the damage of more than a week of fighting.
Militiamen remained in some streets around the sacred
Imam Ali Mosque and a nearby vast cemetery while U.S.
forces patrolled other parts of the city.
But the situation remained tense. Earlier Najaf
governor, Adnan al-Tharfi, told a news conference he had
not yet had an official response from the various parties
on a ceasefire agreement.
Crowds gathered in the Imam Ali Mosque intending to
form a human shield to protect the site, one of the most
sacred to Shi'ite Muslims.
Iraqi police from the Sunni town of Falluja, meanwhile,
delivered food and medical supplies to police who have been
fighting with U.S. forces.
The surge in fighting has proved the most serious
challenge for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi since his
government assumed power from U.S. occupiers on June 28,
tasked with steering the country to elections in January
2005.
Encircled by U.S. troops in the sacred Imam Ali Mosque,
Sadr pledged to stay in the city until victory or death,
dampening hopes that Allawi's government would be able to
negotiate a speedy end to the confrontation.
pj/
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