The Hindu : International : Beginning of the battle, says Al-Sadr aide

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 25, 2004

International

International

Beginning of the battle, says Al-Sadr aide

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, AUG. 24. In a fresh ultimatum, Iraq's interim Defence Minister, Hazim al-Shalan, has warned that guerillas, who have been encircled inside Najaf's Imam Ali shrine, should surrender or face a final assault later today.

"We are in the last hours. This evening, Iraqi forces will reach the doors of the shrine and control it and appeal to the Al-Mehdi Army to throw down their weapons," Mr. Al-Shalan told a news conference at a U.S. military base outside Najaf.

"If they do not, we will wipe them out," he stressed.

Mr. Al-Shalan's warning is part of a growing list of threats that the interim Government has been making to seek a peaceful end to the crisis in Najaf.

Anti-American uprising

The Mehdi Army loyal to the Shia cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr is spearheading a three-week-old anti-American uprising in the city.

The area around the Imam Ali shrine, which is revered by Shias across the globe, is witnessing fierce fighting.

Many fires are raging inside the embattled city due to the combat.

Reacting to Mr. Al-Shalan's ultimatum, a spokesman for Mr. Al-Sadr's office in Baghdad, Raid al-Kathemy, said: "This is the beginning of the battle."

Mr. Al-Kathemy stressed that he was willing to hand over the shrine's keys to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Shia spiritual head in Iraq, who is at present recuperating in a hospital in London where he has been admitted for a heart ailment.

Amid mounting tensions, the U.S. military has alleged that a rocket fired by militiamen clipped the wall of the Imam Ali shrine on Tuesday and may have damaged the building. Meanwhile, American tanks on Tuesday fortified their positions along the southern side of the shrine.

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