TERRORISM AND THE ARAB WORLD

125

TERRORISM AND THE ARAB WORLD. Cont'd.

Iraq cleric offers to end standoff

Photo: Iraqi men demonstrate in support for radical cleric leader Muqtada al-Sadr in the center of Najaf. (AP /Khalid Muhammed)

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - The U.S.-led coalition agreed Thursday to suspend offensive operations in Najaf after Iraqi leaders struck a deal with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end a bloody standoff threatening some of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines. Despite the moves to calm violence in the south, Iraq remains in crisis. Gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, Salama al-Khafaji, as she was returning to Baghdad from Najaf, where she had been helping with negotiations. Al-Khafaji survived but one of her guards was killed and her 18-year-old son was missing, aide Fateh Kashef al-Ghataa said. Al-Khajafi is one of three women on the council and replaced another Shiite Muslim woman, Aquila al-Hashimi, who was assassinated in September. Elsewhere, three mortar shells were fired Thursday at the local headquarters of the ruling Coalition Provisional Authority in the Shiite town Samawah but caused no damage nor casualties, Japan's Kyodo News service reported. Japanese and Dutch troops are stationed in Samawah. Gunmen attacked a car carrying two Japanese journalists from Baghdad to Samawah, setting the vehicle on fire and the fate of the two men remained unclear, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Friday. Japan's government was unable to confirm further details about the attack, which happened late Thursday, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, or of the fate of the two freelance journalists, Shinsuke Hashida, 61, and Kotaro Ogawa, 33. Iraqi leaders have urged the Americans to accept the agreement they are negotiaing to end the confrontation in Najaf - although it does not immediately meet two key demands, the disbanding of al-Sadr's militia and al-Sadr's surrender to face charges in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric. Instead, the future of al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army and the status of the arrest warrant will be discussed during talks between the cleric and the Shiite religious and political leaders. That makes it unlikely that either step will be taken until sovereignty transfers from the coalition to a new Iraqi government at the end of next month. For weeks, U.S. officials had publicly denigrated al-Sadr as a "thug" and repeatedly said the mission of U.S. forces was to "kill or capture" him. A Shiite member of the Governing Council, Abdul-Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi, warned that arresting al-Sadr would "complicate the issues" and lead to "an unending revolution." The announcement came after days of heavy fighting in and around Najaf that damaged Shia Islam's holiest site, the Imam Ali Shrine. The damage was minor, and U.S. officials accused al-Sadr followers of causing it, but it highlighted that danger that the crackdown on al-Sadr could raise widespread Shiite anger. By hiding in and firing from mosques, a few al-Sadr fighters were able to hold out in this centre of Shiite theology and scholarship, knowing the Americans could not afford the political damage of an all-out assault at a time when aggressive U.S. tactics had drawn international criticism. Also Wednesday, three marines were killed in Anbar province "while conducting security and stability operations," the military said, declining to release further details. The province includes the western suburbs of Baghdad as well as Fallujah, Ramadi and Qaim. Three Shiite members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, Salama al-Khafaji, Ahmad Chalabi and al-Mohammedawi, arrived in Najaf to help firm up the agreement with al-Sadr and encourage the Americans to pull their forces from the city. The three issued a statement condemning the "continuation of military operations" and calling on the Americans to "stop being stubborn and abandon unattainable demands" in dealing with al-Sadr. The three planned to stage a sit-in at the Sahla mosque in nearby Kufa until the Americans leave, al-Khafaji said. U.S. soldiers raided the mosque last weekend, seizing weapons and ammunition stored there by al-Sadr's fighters. Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, a Shiite, declined to say whether the discussions could lead to throwing out charges against al-Sadr or even the disbandment of his militia. Asked if al-Sadr might have a political role in the new Iraq, al-Rubaie said: "I do not see any reason that prevents any political movement that uses democratic means and political activities from being part of the Iraqi state and from participating in the building of Iraq." Mohammed al-Musawi, one of several Shiite figures who have been trying to arrange a peaceful end to the standoff, said the deal included transforming al-Sadr's militia into a political organization, creating a new security organization to protect the city, delaying prosecution of al-Sadr until an elected government takes office next year, withdrawing U.S. forces from Najaf, and ending the open display of weaponry on the streets. Al-Sadr's revolt has stirred up violence in formerly peaceful Shiite areas south of Baghdad, further challenging U.S.-led forces who were already battling Sunni Muslim insurgents in central, western and northern Iraq. American commanders have been eager to quell the violence in the Shiite areas before they return sovereignty to a new Iraqi government on June 30.

Continues on the following pages.