AJAF, Iraq(AP) Iraqi officials and aides to a radical Shiite cleric negotiated Friday to end fighting that has raged in the holy city of Najaf for nine days, after American forces suspended an offensive against Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, officials said. Aides said al-Sadr was injured by shrapnel, though Iraqi officials disputed that.
In the southern city of Basra, gunmen seized a British journalist from his hotel late Thursday night, police said Friday. The kidnappers, almost certainly Shiite, threatened to kill him in 24 hours unless coalition forces withdraw from Najaf. It was unclear when that deadline would expire.
With negotiations ongoing, the U.S. military said it suspended offensive operations against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, who are holed up in the city's vast cemetery and the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites to Shiite Muslims.
"We are allowed to engage the enemy only in self defense and long enough to break contact," said Maj. Bob Pizzitola, executive officer for the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division. "That was a blanket order for everybody."e said the militia appeared to have stopped most attacks as well, and the city appeared quieter just one day after the U.S. military announced it had begun a major offensive to rout the militants.
"Hopefully, the talks will go well and everything will be resolved peacefully," Pizzitola said.
The U.S. Defense Department said about 2,200 Marines, along with 500 to 1,000 soldiers and an undisclosed number of U.S.-trained Iraqi troops, were involved in Thursday's offensive.
Also Friday, U.S. airstrikes hit Fallujah, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment, but U.S. forces have fought with militants holed up in the city, a well-known Sunni stronghold, for months.
One of Iraq's most senior religious leaders called for an end to the Najaf fighting, as Iraqis took to the streets across the country to protest the ongoing violence.
Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi al-Modaresi, speaking in Karbala during prayers on Friday, the Muslim holy day, condemned the persistent fighting.
"What is going on in Najaf and the rest of the Iraqi cities is a violation of sanctities, an aggression on holy sites and shedding of innocent blood that could lead to a vicious civil war," al-Modaresi said.
"I call on everyone to shun violence, stop all military operations and for the immediate withdrawal the troops from the cities."
Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said the talks were between Iraqi government officials and al-Sadr's representatives. National Security Adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie traveled to Najaf and was joined there by Defense Minister Hazem Shalan, Iraqi officials said. U.S. officials were not involved in the talks, al-Zurufi said.
Still, the U.S. military said it was maintaining a cordon around the shrine, the cemetery and Najaf's old city, where the militants had taken refuge, Pizzitola said.
This is total BS.Especailly that we are not involved n the negotations. The militiants are in a shrine it no longer becomes a shrine it becomes a target for a daisey cutter. Sounds like a more sensative on Terror to me.
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I just heard on Fox news this cleric is willing to withdraw (so he can regroup and start this crap all over again) as long as his captured men are released and given amenisty. They do this I say we pull the heck out.[:'(][:@][:'(][:@]
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The problem is that since we officially turned over the government to Iraq, it is not our call. Our military is serving at their need. If they decide to let em go, then we have no choice. If they declare a truce to negotiate, we have no choice.
The only other option is to say we really didn't mean the "turnover" so we don't have to listen to them.
The way I understand it from a cousin who is there now, but on leave two weeks ago, is that our troops are 100% under US command, however they are at the service of the Iraq government, so we fight where we see fit, but they can tell us to stop at any time, in fact they can tell us to leave at any time.
If the govt decides to negotiate and calls off our troops, there's nothing our guys can do.
but they can tell us to stop at any time, in fact they can tell us to leave at any time.
If the govt decides to negotiate and calls off our troops, there's nothing our guys can do.
Sure sounds like someone other then US Commanders are making the decisions. So the Iraqi's tell our Commanders what to do then they tell the troops , so their not under Iraqi control?
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We're going to let them off the hook again?
