Free Republic

KUFA, Iraq, May 25 (Reuters) - Anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has not been seen since the start of a major U.S.-backed crackdown in Iraq in February, appeared at Friday prayers in the holy Shi'ite city of Kufa. The U.S. military has said he went into hiding in Iran in January to escape the crackdown, but aides to the young cleric, who led two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004, say he never left Kufa. A Reuters witness saw him enter Kufa mosque, surrounded by bodyguards and close aides.

Excerpt - BAGHDAD (AFP) - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr may end a four month absence from the Iraqi public scene by giving the Friday sermon at his mosque in Kufa, depending on the security situation, supporters said. "We are looking into whether or not his eminence Moqtada al-Sadr will make his appearance in Kufa, depending on the seriousness of some threats to his security," said Abdel Mahdi al-Muteiri, an official in his Baghdad office. In Najaf itself, members of Sadr's organisation confirmed that preparations were underway for him to lead prayers in nearby Kufa, but his actual appearance would...

Iraq: total curfew on the Holy City of Najaf of fear of an attack NAJAF (Iraq) - a total curfew was imposed and until new order on the area of Najaf, by fear of an attack of armed groups, four days after violent one engagements between a militia Shiite and Iraqi and American forces, announced Friday the local authorities. “Fire, imposed in the night of Thursday on Friday covers It, was prolonged and it touches all the area of Najaf without exception including Koufa, in the North-East of the Holy City”, affirmed the police force of this city located...

CAR BOMB EXPLODES IN MARKET IN IRAQI SHI'ITE CITY OF KUFA, MANY CASUALTIES - REUTERS WITNESS

At least 53 dead in latest Iraq bombing By QAIS AL-BASHIR, Associated Press Writer A suicide car bomber detonated explosives in a crowd of laborers gathered across the street from a major Shiite shrine in southern Iraq Tuesday, killing at least 53 people and wounding 105, officials and witnesses said. The attacker drove a minivan to where Shiite laborers gather daily to look for work in Kufa, 100 miles south of Baghdad. He offered them jobs, loaded the minivan with volunteers and then detonated the vehicle, Najaf Gov. Asaad Abu Kalal told a Shiite television station. The blast occurred about...

KUFA, Iraq - Rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared U.S. forces can never defeat his Mahdi militia in a defiant speech read out to 2,000 supporters during the first Friday prayers since the end of a brutal three-week standoff with American troops. Photo AP Photo Reuters Photo Reuters Slideshow Slideshow: Iraq Special Coverages Latest headlines: · Al-Sadr Says U.S. Can't Defeat Militia AP - 5 minutes ago · Hope Turns to Caution in French Hostage Crisis Reuters - 13 minutes ago · Convicted Marine Asks to Stay in Corps AP - 16 minutes ago Special Coverage Al-Sadr aides said the...

KUFA, Iraq (AP) - Blood and shrapnel covered the grounds of the ancient Kufa mosque compound Thursday after at least two mortar blasts ripped through a crowd of Iraqis gathered to march to the holy city of Najaf, killing at least 27 people and wounding at least 63. The explosions tore chunks from the walls of the Kufa mosque, a revered Shiite site dating to the earliest days of Islam. Television footage showed bloodied survivors heaving corpses onto truck beds. The mosque violence was the fourth attack in two days around Kufa; the other three killed marchers and bystanders at...

'Why did you bring us? This is a slaughter' Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Kufa Friday August 27, 2004 The Guardian (UK) They came one wave after another: Shia demonstrators with banners and pictures of their ayatollahs and imams running towards the hidden line of men who were marked only by flying bullets. Beating their chests and shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is most great) at first they appeared not to realise the barrage they were confronting. When two or three men fell injured their colleagues picked them up and retreated. Only when the gunfire became heavy and bullets started whizzing overhead, peppering...

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...

At least 25 people have been killed and dozens injured in a suspected mortar attack on a mosque near the troubled city of Najaf, say hospital officials. The mosque in Kufa and its compound were packed with people at the time, according to AP news agency. It also says the mosque is used by radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr whose fighters are under siege in Najaf.

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric arrived in Najaf Thursday to try to end a bloody three-week uprising as tensions rose sharply following attacks in a nearby town that killed 45 people and wounded 170. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani drove into the battered holy city of Najaf 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. The violence in nearby Kufa came as Sistani's efforts to try to persuade fighters loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to leave Najaf's...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A mortar shell hit the main mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa, just northeast of Najaf, causing dozens of casualties, witnesses said. The mosque was crowded with men at the time and ambulances raced to the scene to take scores of wounded to a nearby hospital. Dead bodies lay around the mosque compound, witnesses said. It was unclear who fired the mortar. U.S. forces have battled Shiite insurgents loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in neighboring Najaf for three weeks. In the past, al-Sadr has regularly used the mosque to deliver sermons at...

KUFA, Iraq - Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday killed two people and wounded five others who were taking part in what appeared to be a peaceful demonstration supporting radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Kufa, northeast of Najaf, witnesses and hospital officials said. Video footage from Associated Press Television News showed demonstrators wounded during a few minutes of heavy gunfire. It was unclear from the footage who was shooting. Mohammed Abdul Kadhim, an employee at Kufa's Furat al-Awsat Hospital, said two marchers were killed and five wounded. The marchers chanted slogans in support of al-Sadr and carried pictures of the cleric...

The Iraqi forces affirm to control the cemetery of Najaf (police force) The Iraqi police force affirms to have taken the control of the cemetery of Najaf, fortified town of the militiamans of the radical head Moqtada Sadr Friday evening afterwards of violent one engagements implying the United States Air Force, affirmed with the AFP a person in charge for the police force with Najaf. It was not possible to confirm this information with Najaf where the accesses of the old city and the cemetery were completely blocked by the engagements between the army of Mehdi de Moqtada Sadr...

Hundreds of fighters loyal to Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr have heeded his call to leave the city of Kufa. Before returning to their homes elsewhere in Iraq, the al-Sadr loyalists gathered for a rousing and jubilant Friday prayer at the Kufa mosque during which they proclaimed their continued support for the Shia leader. The unarmed fighters chanted outside the mosque that victory had been theirs and they could now return home. A recent ceasefire deal between al-Sadr supporters and US occupation forces ended weeks of fighting which had left hundreds of Shia fighters dead. They appeared to have interpreted the...

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) -- A radical Shiite cleric on Wednesday ordered members of his militia to leave the holy cities of Nafaj and Kufa unless they live there, fulfilling a key aspect of an agreement meant to end fighting between his forces and U.S. troops. Muqtada Al-Sadr told fighters who had come here from other parts of Iraq to return home and "carry on their duties as God wants," a statement from his office said. The call was the latest from al-Sadr striking a less hostile tone. The firebrand preacher said last week he would cooperate with the new interim...

KUFA, Iraq (Reuters) - Kufa mosque, a stronghold of radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al Sadr, was rocked by explosions Monday when a nearby arms dump blew up and at least three people were killed, witnesses and hospital sources said.   A further 12 people were wounded but there were conflicting reports on the identities of the casualties. Doctor Ali al-Tufaili at Kufa General Hospital said they were civilians, while witnesses and other doctors said the victims were members of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia. Witnesses said there was slight fire damage to the mosque. Militiamen loyal to Sadr prevented reporters...

KUFA, Iraq (AP) -- Explosions rocked the compound surrounding the Kufa mosque on Monday after ammunition used by fighters loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr apparently caught fire, witnesses and Shiite militia members said. Flames and smoke rose above the site.

<p>BAGHDAD — U.S. soldiers and insurgents loyal to Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr battled for the eighth straight day in Kufa yesterday. At least six Iraqis were killed and 11 were injured, hospital and militia officials said. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded.</p>

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq (news - web sites)'s most influential Shiite figure gave tacit endorsement to the U.N.-appointed government Thursday, breaking nearly three months of silence over the country's political future. But the supreme religious leader in neighboring Iran dubbed the body a "lackey" of America The opposing statements coincided with an eighth straight day of fighting in the holy Shiite city of Kufa between U.S. soldiers and militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. At least six Iraqis were killed and 11 injured, hospital and militia officials said. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded. Late Thursday, Shiite negotiators who have...