Iraq

Cleric's hold on Najaf shrine may be weakening

NAJAF, Iraq - Muqtada al-Sadr, the rebel Shiite cleric, seemed to retain control of the shrine of Imam Ali here late Friday, although there were signs his grip might be weakening, as the number of fighters loyal to him in the mosque dwindled to a few hundred.

Earlier in the day forces loyal to Sadr said he had promised to "turn over the keys" of the sacred mosque to aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, building optimism about an imminent end to the two-week standoff between Sadr's guerrillas, U.S. forces and the interim Iraqi government.

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who on Thursday issued a "final call" to Sadr to give up the mosque, quickly hailed the cleric's offer to cede control of the shrine and again called on him to disband his militia and form a political party. Yet, a few hours later, at about 10:30 p.m., Sadr broadcast a new statement from the shrine's loudspeakers calling on his followers to gather and fight U.S. forces.

But skirmishes between U.S. forces and Sadr's guerrillas slowed Friday after exploding Thursday night, and U.S. troops said they would refrain from offensive operations for the immediate future. Sadr's fighters reportedly said they would stop carrying weapons inside the shrine, where hundreds of them have been holed up since the fighting began two weeks ago.

During the day, the fighters who make up Sadr's militia, called the Mahdi Army, slowly trickled out of the shrine, as U.S. tanks and Humvees exchanged fire with enemy snipers less than half a mile from the entrance. "Many people have left," said a man who identified himself as Abu Mustafa, a Mahdi army fighter. "The shrine is empty."

The Iraqi interior ministry briefly said Friday evening that Iraqi security forces controlled the shrine, a claim disputed both by eyewitnesses and the Iraqi police.

All sides have treaded carefully over the treacherous political ground surrounding the shrine. They know they all have much to lose, should the current stalemate descend into all-out war.

Sadr's guerrillas are no match for U.S. forces and face destruction in a pitched battle. But any attack on the inner ring of Najaf's old city, which surrounds the shrine, would inflame Shiite Muslims worldwide. And severe damage to the shrine could provoke rebellion among Iraq's Shiites.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called on Muslim countries Friday to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the "catastrophe" in Iraq, particularly the two-week standoff in the holy city of Najaf.

Khatami urged the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference to hold an emergency summit and said immediate action should be taken to end the escalating violence in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf.

"What is happening in Iraq is a spiritual and human catastrophe and immediate action must be taken to stop the spread of the catastrophe, particularly in Najaf," Khatami told said OIC head Abdullah Ahmad Badawiin, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

BRUSSELS - European governments should put divisions over Iraq behind them and join in helping the United States restore order there, the European Union's incoming chief executive said in an interview published Friday.

"Some people in Europe may think that it is good that things are going badly for the U.S." in Iraq, European Commission President-designate Jose Manuel Barroso said in the interview with five European newspapers. "I really think that is an irrational and a bad policy."

As Portugal's prime minister, Barroso supported the U.S.-led invasion, hosting a prewar summit with the leaders of the United States, Britain and Spain in the Azores Islands. The country has about 120 police officers stationed near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.

France and Germany opposed the war and have refused to send troops to help the U.S.-led coalition. Spain recently pulled its forces out of Iraq following the election of a new government.

Divisions over Iraq cast a shadow over efforts last June to choose the next commission president, who runs the EU's 24,000-strong civil service.

BAGHDAD - Attackers ambushed a U.S. patrol north of the Iraqi capital on Friday, killing one American soldier and wounding four others, while the U.S. military said two Marines were killed in action in Iraq's volatile Anbar province earlier this week.

The soldiers were attacked with an explosive device in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad. Separately, one Marine died of wounds received in action Wednesday, and another Marine was killed Thursday while conducting security operations in Anbar, west of Baghdad.

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