Posted on 08/26/2004 8:19:05 AM PDT by blam
Carnage amid Najaf peace mission
It was unclear who carried out the Kufa attacks
Top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani has begun a peace mission to the Iraqi city of Najaf, hours after attacks in nearby Kufa left at least 74 dead. About 315 people apparently obeying the ayatollah's call to march on Najaf were also hurt, the health ministry said.
The main Kufa mosque was hit by mortar shells and gunfire was also reported.
Ayatollah Sistani's representatives have contacted representatives of militants in Najaf who have been in a three-week standoff with US-led forces.
On Wednesday he had returned to Iraq and called on Shias to march on Najaf.
US denies involvement
It was unclear who carried out the attacks in Kufa.
The mortar blast struck a compound packed with people - many believed to be Sadr supporters who were about to go to Najaf.
Hussam al-Husseini, an aide to the rebel cleric, told the Associated Press news agency that one mortar shell hit the mosque itself in Kufa, and two others landed near the gates of the compound.
US-led forces said they had not carried out any operations in Kufa for 24 hours and the interim government said it had called a ceasefire in Najaf.
The US military on Thursday then said in a statement it had suspended offensive operations "at the request of the local and national Iraqi government".
TV pictures showed dozens of wounded men lying on the ground amid pools of blood or being ferried to Kufa's hospital.
Crowds of angry people were reported to have built up around the gates of the hospital where casualties were taken.
"We were gathering outside and inside the mosque preparing to head to Najaf when two mortar shells landed, one inside the mosque and the other on the main gate," said one man who was taking an injured friend to the hospital.
"This is a criminal act. We just wanted to launch a peaceful demonstration," Hani Hashem said.
In another incident, gunmen opened fire on marchers heading to Najaf from Kufa, killing at least three.
Witnesses said a crowd of 2,000 to 3,000 was forced back from a road-block on the main route to Najaf by heavy gunfire over their heads.
The governor of Najaf also said neither US nor Iraqi government forces were to blame.
Weapons-free zones
The interim government said it declared a 24-hour ceasefire in Najaf in the hope that a deal could be reached.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has brokered peace in Najaf before
Najaf had fallen quiet and black smoke which has been spiralling from the old city had disappeared as the Shia spiritual leader arrived.
He was accompanied by thousands of his supporters after calling on them to march to Najaf where fighters loyal to radical young cleric Moqtada Sadr are holed up in one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines.
Ayatollah Sistani is expected to unveil an initiative to end the three-week crisis, during which the old city has been repeatedly bombarded by US-led forces.
Aides said the proposals include weapons-free zones in both Najaf and Kufa - a stronghold of Mr Sadr - and the replacement of foreign troops by Iraqi police.
"I have come for the sake of Najaf and I will stay in Najaf until the crisis ends," Ayatollah Sistani said on Wednesday after his return to Iraq from weeks of medical treatment in the UK.
He was instrumental in brokering an earlier ceasefire between Mr Sadr's fighters and US-led forces in the city.
Agencies
The Guardian (UK)
Thursday August 26, 2004
A TV image of a wounded Iraqi man in a hospital in Kufa after a mortar attack killed 27 people
At least 27 people were today killed in a mortar attack on a southern Iraqi mosque where supporters of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were gathered. The strike on the mosque in Kufa, which neighbours beseiged Najaf, came as Iraq's leading Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, travelled to Najaf to negotiate an end to almost three weeks of fighting between US forces and Mr Sadr's Mahdi army militia.
An aide said Mr Sistani, a moderate who commands the respect of most of Iraq's Shia Muslims, had said there was no question that the attack would halt his mission to the holy city. "We are making our way. The crowds surrounding us are huge," Hamed al-Khafaf told Reuters.
Television pictures from the mosque in Kufa showed dozens of wounded men lying on the ground in pools of blood as others were ferried to hospital. Survivors chanted angry slogans.
Mr Sadr's supporters were later fired on as they marched to Najaf. A Reuters photographer reported that he saw 20 bodies under blankets.
The supporters, who had gathered at the mosque prior to the march, blamed US-led forces for the attack. The US military had no immediate comment.
"We were gathering outside and inside the mosque preparing to head to Najaf when two mortar shells landed - one inside the mosque and the other on the main gate," Hani Hashem, who was bringing an injured friend to the hospital, said. "This is a criminal act. We just wanted to launch a peaceful demonstration."
Mr Sistani had also called on his supporters to march on Najaf, but today urged them to wait outside the city for instructions.
The 73-year-old cleric, who yesterday returned from being treated for heart problems at a London hospital, arrived at Najaf in a convoy of 50 police cars and 10 British military vehicles from Basra.
He is to unveil a plan to get the Mahdi fighters out of the Imam Ali mosque, and for US marines encircling Iraq's holiest Shia shrine to leave the city. His peace plan envisages Iraqi police taking charge of security and the imposition of a ban on weapons.
The interim Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said Mr Sadr had indicated that he would accept all elements of Mr Sistani's plan. He ordered Iraqi forces under his command to observe a 24-hour ceasefire in order to allow talks on a peaceful end to the uprising.
Overnight, US warplanes unleashed a fierce attack on rebel targets in Najaf. Heavy shooting and mortar bomb attacks also erupted near the shrine, and there were outbreaks of gunfire away from the mosque, indicating that fighting was taking place elsewhere in the besieged city as Mr Sistani approached.
Mr Sadr has challenged the collegiate leadership of the Najaf clergy, which is headed by Mr Sistani, presenting himself as the face of anti-US Shia resistance.
The cleric has proved himself a stubborn opponent of Iraq's US-backed government. US firepower and peace offers from Mr Allawi - including the promise of a political role and amnesty for his fighters - have failed to move his supporters from the mosque.
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