Delegation of Mediators Arrives in Najaf

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20040817/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_3


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The peace proposal, cobbled together Iraq (news - web sites)'s National Conference in Baghdad, demanded that al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia put down its arms and join Iraq's political process in exchange for amnesty.


The conference had intended to send a larger team of 60 members from the capital to Najaf, but the mission was plagued by embarrassing holdups. The delegates waited for seven hours for a security escort until the trip was canceled when none emerged.


Instead, an 8-member delegation was ferried aboard two U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters to a U.S. base in Najaf.


"This is not a negotiation. This is a friendly mission to convey the message of the National Conference," said delegation head Hussein al-Sadr, a distant relative of the cleric. "We want to change the Mahdi Army into a political organization and to evacuate the shrine of Ali with the promise not to legally pursue those taking shelter there. This is what the government and all Iraqis want."