Ceasefire Amid Iraq Bloodshed
U.S. and Iraqi security forces have halted offensive military operations in Najaf in accordance with a 24-hour cease-fire called by the Iraqi government, the U.S. military said Thursday.
In the last 24 hours, 55 people were killed and 376 injured during clashes in Najaf, Sa'ad al-Amili of the Health Ministry said Thursday.
Violence around the nearby city of Kufa has claimed at least 40 lives and left 165 injured in the past two days. A mortar attack Thursday on a mosque killed 27 and gunmen slew three more. A day earlier, mortars killed two people and eight died when gunmen fired on a rally.
Meanwhile, attacks on southern oil pipelines have cut off exports vital to the country's reconstruction.
The U.S. military is holding its fire in Najaf in a bid to promote a peace effort from Iraq's top Shiite cleric, said U.S. Rear Adm. Gregory J. Slavonic, a military spokesman.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, who returned from London on Wednesday armed with a peace initiative, is calling for Najaf and Kufa to be declared weapons-free cities, for all foreign forces to withdraw from Najaf and leave security to the police, and for the government to compensate those harmed by the fighting here.
He arrived in Najaf on Thursday at the head of a massive convoy. Upon al-Sistani's arrival, the heavy clashes in Najaf appeared to ease, though gunfire still echoed sporadically across the city.
In other developments:
The U.S. military statement said the temporary halt will allow talks to proceed between al-Sistani and the forces of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who occupy the Imam Ali Shrine.
The fighting in Najaf has killed scores of civilians and nearly paralyzed the city since it began Aug. 5.
Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi declared a 24-hour cease-fire in Najaf from the time of al-Sistani's arrival Thursday afternoon "to confirm our commitment to peace."
Al-Sistani's intervention could be the best hope so far of ending the violence, which has repeatedly seen negotiations fall apart. The 75-year-old ayatollah is seeking to bring his enormous popularity to bear, encouraging Shiites to march on Najaf and get all sides to stop fighting.
Thousands of people heeded the call, marching from their home towns to Najaf and gathering on the outskirts of the holy city Thursday, but witnesses said police barred them from entering the city.
Al-Sistani holds the loyalty of a far broader swath of Iraq's Shiite majority than al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr's fiery anti-U.S. message has drawn many poorer, disillusioned Shiites but is seen by other Shiites as too radical. Al-Sadr's followers have set up their own religious courts and arrested hundreds of people on charges including selling alcohol and music deemed immoral.
Al-Sistani is calling for Najaf and Kufa to be declared weapons-free cities, for all foreign forces to withdraw from Najaf and leave security to the police and for the Iraqi government to compensate those harmed by the fighting here.
Allawi expressed hope al-Sistani's peace initiative would succeed so the government would not have to resort to a long-threatened raid on the Imam Ali Shrine — an action that would likely outrage Iraq's Shiite majority.
"I stress that this is the last call for peace and that this is the last chance to put an end to the spilling of innocent blood," Allawi said in a statement. "God willing, our prayers for Iraq's peace and stable security will be met."
With all sides — the Americans, the Iraqi government and al-Sadr — giving at least nominal support to al-Sistani's efforts, it was not known who fired the mortars that struck the mosque in Kufa or whether it was an attempt to sabotage the peace effort.
Thousands of Shiites had gathered at the mosque in Kufa, an al-Sadr stronghold, to march to Najaf when the mortar rounds hit — one inside the mosque compound and around two others at the main gate, according to witnesses.
The blasts killed 27 people and wounded 63, according to Mohammed Abdul Kadhim, an official at Furat al-Awsat hospital in Kufa.
Outside the hospital's gate, crowds of angry people gathered, shouting "God is great!"
After the attack, thousands of demonstrators loyal to al-Sadr marched on nearby Najaf but came under fire from a base between the two cities housing Iraqi national guardsmen and U.S. troops, witnesses said. At least three people were killed and 46 wounded.
The day before, gunfire from the same base killed eight people and wounded 56 others who were taking part in what appeared to be a peaceful demonstration supporting al-Sadr.
Another mortar attack in Kufa on Wednesday, apparently targeting a police checkpoint, killed two civilians, including an 8-year-old boy.
An Al-Sadr aide blamed the mortar attack on the main mosque on American forces backing Iraqi troops in the city. A U.S. military spokesman denied firing the barrage, saying troops were still avoiding targeting holy sites in Kufa and Najaf.