Aides: Ayatollah (Sistani) brokers agreement with Al-Sadr

CNN.com ^ | 26 August 2004 | CNN

[Moose4]

The deputy for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said al-Sistani and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have reached an agreement in talks to end the standoff in Najaf, Iraq. Aides described the agreement as a "positive deal."

[Moose4]

No story on this yet, this is from the CNN.com front page.

}:-)4

[bored at work]

this otta be good . . .

[johniegrad]

So now will the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and the not quite as grand Muqtada al-Sadr issue fatwas declaring the most sacred shrine of Mohammed's 4th cousin off limits to the infidel occupiers of the most holy city of Najaf?

[RightWhale]

Sheikh Sistani wouldn't have brokered anything. He IS da Man.

[BJClinton]

From AP via Yahoo!

Aide: Al-Sistani Brokers Najaf Peace Deal 3 minutes ago By ABDUL HUSSEIN AL-OBEIDI, Associated Press Writer NAJAF, Iraq - Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed Thursday to a peace deal present by top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani to end three weeks of fighting in the holy city of Najaf, according to a top aide to al-Sistani.

"Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to the initiative of his eminence al-Sistani," Hamed al-Khafaf told reporters at a news conference outside the house where al-Sistani was staying here. "You will hear good news soon from the government and Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr."

The agreement was reached during a meeting between the two clerics Thursday night.

The Iraqi interim government called an emergency news conference in Baghdad.

Al-Sistani, who had been abroad in London for medical treatment during much of the fighting, returned Thursday with a new plan to end the violence.

The plan called 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.

"It's the same initiative that we had proposed ... almost the same initiative has been agreed upon," al-Khafaf said.

The fighting, which has spread to other Sunni communities throughout Iraq has killed scores of civilians, nearly paralyzed the city and caused the biggest crisis yet for the new government of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

A long-threatened government raid on the holy Imam Ali Shrine here, where the militants have sought refuge, appeared to grow increasingly likely in recent days as peace initiatives broke down and the militants refused to honor a promise to withdraw.

But al-Sistani's return, and his apparent determination to end the bloodshed in his city, brought new hope for a peaceful resolution.

Thousands of Iraqis had flocked to Najaf in answer to al-Sistani's call Wednesday for a peace march, but the police did not let them enter.

Late Thursday, Al-Sistani asked the government to allow them in to visit the shrine compound provided they leave by 10 a.m. Friday, al-Khafaf said.

[sarasota]

All I heard was amnesty for the thugs. Yeah, let 'em all go back to their "regular" jobs.

[johniegrad]

Sorry. "Mohammed's 4th cousin" should be "Mohammed's 4th cousin (PBUH)".

[Dog Gone]

The plan called 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.

That leaves only one remaining question. What about Sadr?

[BJClinton]

From Reuters via Yahoo!

Sistani Secures Iraq Peace Deal After Bloody Day
By Michael Georgy

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's most revered Shi'ite leader persuaded a rebel cleric Thursday to accept a deal ending a three-week uprising in Najaf, after returning to the holy city amid bloody clashes that killed at least 74 people.

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani entered the city in a huge convoy of vehicles, with thousands lining the streets along the route, for talks with radical rival Moqtada al-Sadr.

Police said Sadr, whose fighters have been holed up in the sacred Imam Ali mosque and battling U.S. and Iraqi forces in the alleys outside, agreed a "very positive" deal to end fighting that has killed hundreds, driven oil prices to record highs and undermined the authority of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Details were due to be announced at a Najaf news conference.

Tens of thousands of Shi'ites had converged on Najaf, heeding calls by Sistani and Sadr to march on the city.

At least 15 Sistani supporters were shot dead in Najaf and 65 wounded when gunmen opened fire at police who were trying to control a crowd, prompting police to shoot back, witnesses said.

"Suddenly armed men joined our group and fired at the police. The police started firing everywhere," witness Hazim Kareem told Reuters at Najaf's hospital, where bodies dripping with blood were piled on stretchers.

A hospital worker added: "Go look at the morgue, it's full."

In nearby Kufa, a mortar attack on the town's main mosque killed at least 25 Sadr supporters as hundreds of his men inside prepared to march on Najaf, officials said.

Shi'ite marchers were fired on in Kufa around the same time and at least 20 were killed, a Reuters photographer on the scene said. It was unclear who carried out the attacks.

HEAVY TOLL

Television pictures showed dozens of wounded men lying in pools of blood around Kufa mosque. Fighting in Najaf, however, appeared to have eased as a government cease-fire took effect.

The U.S. military said it had suspended offensive operations at the request of the Iraqi government.

Sistani drove into Najaf from the southern city of Basra in a huge convoy, guarded by dozens of police pickups with their sirens wailing. Scores of police brandished AK-47 rifles as they drove past thousands lining the streets leading into Najaf.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis in cars and on foot traveled to Najaf to welcome him. But Sistani, 73, told them to wait at the city's outskirts.

Aide Hamed al-Khafaf told reporters Iranian-born Sistani's peace plan called for all groups in Najaf to lay down their arms and for U.S. forces to leave the city.

Sistani arrived back from London Wednesday after heart treatment for three weeks. The uprising erupted just as he left his adopted home in Najaf, Iraq's center of Shi'ite learning.

ANOTHER OLIVE BRANCH

Allawi said he had ordered his forces to observe a 24-hour cease-fire in Najaf from 3 p.m. (1100 GMT) to help the talks.

He said Mehdi Army fighters would be offered an amnesty if they gave up their weapons and left the shrine.

"The Iraqi government will provide them with ways to hand in their weapons and leave the sacred shrine, and we affirm again that we will provide safe passage to Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr if he chooses to stop the military confrontation," Allawi said.

Sistani's followers say the cleric's intervention could break the Najaf deadlock and ensure a peaceful resolution after U.S. firepower failed to drive rebels from the mosque. The elderly cleric ended another uprising in April and May.

Sadr, aged only about 30, has challenged the collegiate leadership of the Najaf clergy headed by Sistani and styled himself as the face of anti-U.S. Shi'ite resistance.

(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim, Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Tom Perry and Ibon Villelabeitia in Baghdad)

[bored at work]

I'm confused. Did they agree for us to leave and/or lay down our arms in those cities?

[BJClinton]

What about Sadr?

Once he is out of this so-called "Holy Site", I believe the Iraqi government will attempt to serve the outstanding warrant...backed up by the USMC. IMHO, of course.

[river rat]

If the "Fat Boy" and his thugs leave town alive ---- we will have been played for suckers, again!

Arab lunatics need to learn, they are not permitted to kill, only when it is convienent and safe for them to kill....

This makes me sick....

This is how Al Sadr should be looking today!

Semper Fi

[dawn53]

I think it had more to do with getting Sadr's men out of the mosque.

Which if it truly did that, could definitely ease tensions.

We don't want to blow up the mosque because it has some significance to Muslims everywhere.

How does that work anyway? They're always talking about the 3rd or 4th most holy sites? How do they get rated, whose in charge of the rating system?

I mean, there's the Vatican, but after that is there a 2nd or 3rd "holy site" in Catholicism? Or is one Protestant church more holy than another?

Just plain weird to me.

[Dog Gone]

Apparently so. We'll happily leave if the thugs turn over their weapons.

[Numbers Guy]

They're always talking about the 3rd or 4th most holy sites? How do they get rated, whose in charge of the rating system?

It's based on the college football BCS system. You've got the media poll, the coaches' poll, and then these computer rating systems.

[pt17]

If the "Fat Boy" and his thugs leave town alive ---- we will have been played for suckers, again!

I wouldn't bet against you on this.

[1066AD]

Turn in weapons, disperse them then execute the outstanding arrest warrant on Sadr.

[Lori675]

It's based on the college football BCS system. You've got the media poll, the coaches' poll, and then these computer rating systems.

Roflmao

[walford]

Thank you for your insightful and worthwhile post. Enjoy your stay at FR.