Thousands of Al Sadr supporters, governor reax

(14 Aug 2004) STORY
Najaf's governor on Saturday said a deal was close between the Iraqi government and the forces of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end the fighting there.

He expressed optimism that the crisis would end within the next two days.

Meanwhile about 10 thousand demonstrators, some in buses, others on foot, arrived in Najaf on Saturday to show their solidarity with the militants and act as human shields to protect the city.

Many of the demonstrators arrived from as far away as Baghdad, as well as the southern cities of Amarah and Nasiriyah, demanding the interim government's resignation and an end to the offensive here.

After nine days of fighting here, the city fell mostly quiet on Friday as both sides respected a cease-fire during the negotiations to end the crisis.

The peace moves came a day after U.S. forces suspended a major offensive against al-Sadr's militants to give Iraqi negotiators and al-Sadr's aides time to negotiate an end the renewed fighting in the city.

Al-Sadr wanted a U.S. withdrawal from Najaf and amnesty for all his fighters among other demands in exchange for disarming his followers and pulling them out of the revered Imam Ali shrine and Najaf's old city, where they have taken refuge, aides said.

Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi said Saturday that the negotiations, led by National Security Adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie, "have reached a very sensitive point."

The government has accepted some of al-Sadr's conditions and the negotiators are discussing others, he said.

U.S. officials were not involved in Friday's talks, he said.

Al-Zurufi said the government had no plans to arrest al-Sadr or force him to leave the city.

The U.S. military has estimated that hundreds of insurgents had been killed in the Najaf fighting since it began on August 5, but the militants dispute the figure.

Six Americans have been killed, along with about 20 Iraqi officers, it said.

Though the government is facing violence across the country, the fighting between the militants and a combined U.S.-Iraqi force in Najaf, one of the holiest cities in Shia Islam, poses the most danger to the fledgling interim government.

The violence has angered many of the country's majority Shiites, including those who do not normally support al-Sadr.

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