NAJAF, Iraq - Iraqi troops could raid Najaf's holy Imam Ali Shrine on Wednesday in a final push to root out Shiite militants hiding there while they battle U.S. forces, the country's defense minister said.
That announcement by Hazem Shaalan came one day after an eight-man delegation sent to Najaf by Iraq's ongoing National Conference in Baghdad failed to negotiate an end to a nearly two-week uprising by militants loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Delegates met with al-Sadr's aides but not the cleric, who is believed to be hiding out in the shrine.
Al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany said the cleric did not show up for the meeting because of the "heavy shelling from the planes and tanks of the U.S. forces." The U.S. military denied conducting offensive operations during the meeting.
He's had his chance. He's just delaying now. Hell, al-Sadr's even trying to get the Pope to come and neogitate with him. Its all a delay tactic. He's hoping that if he can drag this out long enough America and the Iraqi government will lose its resolve and pull out.
Lets go in and get him. Lets run some tanks up to that mosque he's in and drive him out. I know its a holy site, but why is that our problem? Al-Sadr's terrorist gangs are killing our troops while hiding in that shrine. We have every right to go in there and put an end to this. If Muslims are upset at the damage maybe they should look to the person who decided to turn the shrine into a battlefield by hiding there.
Update:
Al-Sadr has agreed to withdraw:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi delegates to a conference choosing a national assembly said Wednesday that radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had agreed to demands to end an uprising in the holy city of Najaf.
A letter from Sadr's office in Baghdad, read out by delegates, said the cleric had agreed to demands from the government-backed conference which included leaving the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Spokesmen for Sadr could not be immediately be reached for comment.
Among the other demands were for Sadr's Mehdi militia fighters to lay down their weapons and join the country's political process.
So they're letting this terrorist and his followers become politicians? That's a mistake, and a big one. This guy is going to be a cancer in the process to create a democratic Iraq. He isn't interested in democracy, he's interested in terrorism and oppression through radical Islam.
He should be captured and thrown in jail, not allowed to withdraw.