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Fighting Rages In Najaf, Friday Prayers Cancelled
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Black smoke covers Najaf
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KARBALA
,
Iraq
, May 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The inevitable
happened Friday, May 14, and fierce clashes between occupation forces
and followers of Moqtada Sadr erupted in Najaf, prompting the
cancellation of the weekly Friday prayers at the revered holy shrine
of Imam Hussein in
Karbala
.
"Because
of these unusual circumstances, there will be no Friday prayers in the
Imam Hussein shrine," said Sheikh Maitham Rahi, who has links to
the
Iraq
's most revered Shiite Muslim leader, Grand Ayatolloh Ali al-Sistani,
according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
center of
Karbala
around the two revered shrines of Imams Hussein and Abbas were empty,
with Sadr armed fighters controlling the buildings and hotels nearby,
close to troops of the U.S.-led occupation forces.
Sporadic
bursts of automatic gunfire were heard but there were no major
clashes.
The
town, 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of
Baghdad
, was the scene of violent clashes Wednesday that left 22 of Sadr's
fighters dead, according to the U.S.-led occupation authority.
Najaf
"City Of
Fear
"
In
nearby Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, holding
prayers also seemed unlikely, as the weeks-long standoff was blown to
pieces and fighting erupted between Sadr militia and occupation
troops.
There
were also doubts that prayers could be held because of blocked roads
in nearby Kufa, where Sadr usually appears to fray U.S. President
George W. Bush and encourages his followers to fight against the
U.S.-led occupation.
The
U.S.
occupation forces imposed a curfew on Najaf, turning it into a city of
fear. The director of the City's hospital said the
U.S.
forces ordered him not to allow any ambulances or medical crews to
leave the hospital premises under any circumstances, according to
al-Jazeera correspondent.
"The
situation is dangerously bad. Streets are empty. Intense firing is
heard everywhere, especially from southern and eastern entrances of
the city where the occupation forces are advancing. Mehdi Army
fighters are putting up a strong resistance at the cemetery," the
correspondent added.
Sadr
Office in the city, meanwhile, told al-Jazeera that Mehdi fighters
brought down a
U.S.
military helicopter during the ongoing fierce fighting.
Call
For Resistance
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Iraqi fighters try to resist the advance of occupation forces in their holy city |
In
another development, head of Sadr Office in
Baghdad
declared the southern city of al-Nasiriyah, near
Basra
, "a banned place" for occupation forces, calling on all
Sadr fighters to resist any attempts to enter it, according to
al-Jazeera.
He
also called on Mehdi fighters to head for Najaf in force to crush the
occupation's attempts to control the holy shrines there.
Meanwhile,
a spokesman of Sistani called on both the occupation forces and Mehdi
fighters to withdraw from Najaf, a call many see as
"impractical" now that armies have already started battling.
Explosions
and gunfire erupted inside Najaf Friday as the
U.S.
occupation forces sought to crush the last major resistance in
Iraq
, ahead of the June 30 return of sovereignty.
A
series of loud explosions rocked the southern edge of Najaf from about
11:00 am (0700 GMT), hours after fighting broke out in the city's vast
cemetery, according to AFP.
The
explosions came from an area where
U.S.
forces and Sadr's Mehdi army militia were facing off, south of the
sacred Imam Ali mausoleum.
The
explosions were heard shortly before Friday prayers at Najaf.
Shooting
was also heard from the southern and western entrances to the city,
and hospital sources said seven people, including an Afghan pilgrim,
had been wounded.
Earlier,
at least three
U.S.
tanks were seen in a cemetery northwest of the city centre about one
kilometer (less than mile) from the shrine, and
U.S.
helicopters hovered over the area.
Armed
black-clad men veiled with scarves were seen running inside the
sprawling cemetery and fanning out across the area.
Heavy
black smoke was seen rising from the cemetery and the sound of heavy
guns was heard.
In
the area to the south, known as Bahr al-Najaf, some 2,500
U.S.
soldiers are camped in the desert.
Sadr's
fighters have dug in with heavy weapons on a hill overlooking Bahr,
about 100 meters (yards) south of the shrine.
Their
military command post is also in this area right behind the shrine.
"Iraqi
Holy Sites Respected"
Despite
the fierce fighting, a
U.S.
general claimed Friday that occupation forces are respecting religious
sites even as they battle Sadr fighters within one kilometer (mile) of
the most sacred shrine in the holy Shiite city.
U.S.
Major General Martin Dempsey told CNN television that
U.S.
forces had engaged loyalists of Sadr in Najaf's sprawling cemetery,
claiming it was only in self defense.
"We
were taking mortar fire from the cemetery so we took action against
those specific targets in the cemetery ... " he said, adding:
"We never give up the right of self-defense but we will as much
as possible honor the sensitivity of the religious sites".
The
cemetery is about one kilometer away from the Imam Ali shrine, one of
the holiest sites for Muslims worldwide in general, and Shiites in
particular.
Dempsey
is the commander of the 1st Armoured Division which has encircled
Najaf, south of
Baghdad
, and stepped up pressure on Sadr's forces in a bid to quell
resistance that erupted more than a month ago.
U.S.
forces continue to demand that Sadr disband his militia and turn
himself in to face charges over the alleged murder of a rival scholar
over a year ago.
U.S.-picked
Iraqi Governing Council declared last week that the arrest warrant
against Sadr was issued by the occupation authority and the Council
had nothing to do with it.
Sadr
has expressed his willingness to turn himself in and stand trial only
before a sovereign, elected Iraqi government.
"
U.S.
To Leave If Not Welcome"
However,
as the fighting resumed,
U.S.
overseer for Iraq Paul Bremer announced that
U.S.
occupation forces would pull out of the country if a new sovereign
government said they were no longer welcome.
"If
the provisional government asks us to leave we will leave," he
said, referring to a post-June 30 administration after the handover of
sovereignty.
"I
don't think that will happen but obviously we don't stay in countries
where we're not welcome," he said at a working lunch in
Baghdad
with Iraqi officials from Diyala province.
The
U.S.
has declared that the awaited Iraqi provisional government would
have only limited powers.
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