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Mutiny Feared, Iraqi Gov't Seeks Truce In Najaf
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Big numbers of Iraqi police joined Sadr fighters
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NAJAF,
August 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - In a major u-turn
for the Iraqi Interim government, negotiations are under way to
peacefully end the bloody standoff in Najaf after a strict previous
position "not to negotiate with criminals".
The
peace talk Friday, August 13, came amid signs of serious cracks among
the ranks of the Iraqi government, threats by police and National
Guardsmen to defect and join Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army in Najaf,
growing resentment among ordinary Iraqis and a Sunni Fatwa prohibiting
helping the American forces in their fighting against Iraqis.
After
a US-led major offensive was unleashed Thursday against Mahdi Army
fighters, loyal to Shiite leader Sadr, an Iraqi government spokesman
said an imminent ceasefire is about to be reached to end the ongoing
fighting.
"Many,
many groups are coming to Najaf to make it end peacefully. We are the
last people to want to kill anyone," Iraq's government spokesman
told Agence France Presse (AFP).
The
ceasefire talks mark a shift in the stance of the Iraqi government
which repeatedly refused to negotiate with the Mehdi Army to end
fighting in Najaf.
Iraqi
Prime Minister had earlier called
on the Mehdi Army to lie down arms and leave the holy
city of Najaf.
"We
think that those armed should leave the holy sites and the (Imam Ali
Shrine compound) as well as leave their weapons and abide by the
law," Allawi had said Monday, during a surprise visit to Najaf,
escorted by US soldiers.
Police
Urged To Defect
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Fury among Iraqis could have forced the "peace attempts"
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News
of the imminent ceasefire came as Sadr aides repeated their calls on
members of the Iraqi army and police to join ranks in the fighting
against the US occupation forces.
An
aide to Sadr warned the Iraqi guardsmen and police forces against
siding with the US occupation forces in the ongoing fighting in Najaf,
AFP reported.
"Either
you are with us or against us," said Sheikh Ahmed Al-Maliky
Friday.
He
also called on members of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's
disbanded army to join the ongoing fighting along with the Mehdi Army
if they are not guilty of committing crimes against the Iraqi people.
Hundreds
of Iraqi National Guardsmen in the city of Amarah said Thursday they
were joining Sadr's Mehdi Army until the Americans leave Najaf, and 16
members of Najaf's provincial council suspended their membership to
protest the offensive.
The
US assaults on Najaf have drawn rebukes from all walks of the boiling
Iraq.
The
Najaf fighting had put more pressures on Allawi's government as the
Iraqi cities are witnessing massive demonstrations in protest at the
US assaults on the holy shrines in Najaf.
Thousands
of Iraqis took to the streets Friday to protest the US offensive on
Najaf, voicing support for the firebrand Shiite leader.
"We
want to be martyrs for you Moqtada Sadr" and "He's the
bridge to paradise," the men chanted as they marched toward the
center of the holy city, the AFP said
Also
in Mosul , about 300 demonstrators took to the streets of the mainly
Shiite town of Tallafar , calling on the Iraqi Premier and the
Interior and Defense Ministers to tender resignation.
Nearly
5,000 Sadr supporters had taken to the streets in Basra Thursday,
demanding the US occupation troops withdraw from Najaf and condemning
Allawi for working with the Americans. Several hundred Iraqis also
protested in Baghdad.
On
Thursday, deputy
governor of Najaf resigned, in protest at the
'terrorist' acts of the US occupation forces as deadly raids into the
holy city has left hundreds of Shiite fighters and civilians killed.
The
Muslim Scholars Association also earlier issued a fatwa (religious
edict) forbidding any Iraqi from siding with the US occupation forces
in the ongoing fighting in Najaf.
The
US forces have launched
a sweeping offensive Thursday, August 12 in a bid to
crush down the uprising of the Mehdi Army, amid fierce fighting raging
for almost a fortnight.
Sadr
Influence
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Allawi previously ruled out any negotiations with what he termed "criminals" in Najaf
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In
another strong sign on the wide influence Sadr enjoys in Iraq, a
British journalist, kidnapped Thursday, was freed Friday, following a
call from Sadr on the captors to immediately release him.
James
Brandon, a freelance reporter for the Sunday Telegraph was
kidnapped in the Iraqi city of Basra by a group of armed men,
demanding the US forces to end attacks against Najaf in 24 hours.
The
kidnappers have threatened to kill him, unless their demands are met
within the next 24 hours.
Following
his release, Brandon, with bruises on his face and wearing a pink
shirt and dark trousers, held an impromptu press conference at Sadr's
office.
"I
was first treated harshly, but I think after my captors heard the
appeal by Sadr's office their treatment changed," he said through
an interpreter.
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