- Title: IRAQ: FIGHTING CONTINUES IN NAJAF.
- Date: 15th August 2004
- Summary: (W4) NAJAF, IRAQ (AUGUST 16, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS/HAS: OF CEMETERY. 0.06 2. WS SEEN THROUGH NIGHT SCOPE : U.S. TANK AMONG TOMBS IN CEMETERY. 0.14 3. WS: EMPTY STREET WITH TRACES OF FIGHTING. (AUDIO OF GUNFIRE) 0.26 4. WS: MAN RUNNING IN STREET/ RUBBLE IN STREET. 0.36 5. VARIOUS: MEMBERS OF MEHDI ARMY CARRYING P
- Embargoed: 30th August 2004 13:00
- Keywords: combat; helicopters; Insurgents; mortar; tank
- Location: NAJAF, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVAEQDDD1RBLNVE5CPPTNWI4KUIW
- Story Text: FIghting continues in Najaf near the Imam Ali Mosque
and an ancient cemetery.
Militia loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr fought intermittent skirmishes with the U.S. forces
on Monday (August 16) and crackles of gunfire and
explosions rattled through the holy city of Najaf.
Brandishing shoulder rockets and AK-47 rifles, militia
took position in the streets as U.S. armoured vehicles and
tanks could be seen in the streets of the city.
A U.S. tank could be seen lurking among tombs in the
vast ancient cemetery of the city, while two U.S.
helicopters were hovering overhead.
With his militants and human shields holed up inside
one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines, radical Iraqi
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is playing a shrewd waiting game
ahead of an expected American-led offensive.
Sadr's militiamen were inside the Imam Ali shrine and positioned
along alleyways and on rooftops with a seemingly
endless supply of AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled
grenades intermittently firing at U.S. troops in a nearby
cemetery.
But it was about 2,000 impassioned Iraqi civilian
"volunteers" cheering Sadr in the marble-floored courtyard
of the mosque who made the biggest show of force on Monday.
Travelling to Najaf from across Iraq, they are swelling
the ranks of Sadr's supporters and could be another reason
why U.S.
troops may think twice before storming the shrine.
"Tribesmen have came to the holy city of Najaf for a
sit-in and they invited all the leaders of Iraqi tribes to
come here and stage a sit-in to defend the holy city
against the occupying forces and the occupier, the
Americans. They also called on all of Iraq's tribes, the
Sunnis and the Shi'ites to hold a national conference on
Wednesday to end the Najaf crisis," said Sheikh Qais
al-Khaz'ali, Sadr's spokesman.
The longer the Americans wait to launch any offensive,
the more time Sadr has to gain new supporters and entrench
them inside the sprawling mosque.
Any serious damage to the shrine would enrage millions
of Shi'ites around the world, including those who make up
about 60 percent of Iraq's population.
The volunteers said they had no serious military
training. But they seem ready to pick up AK-47 rifles or
act as human
shields if the U.S. tanks that are positioned in
neighbourhoods near the shrine advance.
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