(US-appointed) Najaf leader OKs operations near holy shrine

[Cooley Hurd]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/08/09/iraq.main/index.html
<snip>
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The governor of Najaf cleared the way Monday for military operations around the Imam Ali Shrine, the most holy place in Shiite Islam, where fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are holed up, said a commander for the U.S.-led multinational forces.

Al-Sadr has promised a fight to the death against the American-led forces by his Mehdi Army militia.

"I will keep on resisting, and I am staying in Najaf and won't leave it till the last day of my life," al-Sadr said. "My stay is to defend Najaf the holiest place."

U.S. officials have accused al-Sadr, a maverick Shiite cleric, of fomenting unrest. He is wanted in connection with the killing of a rival cleric last year.

Support for al-Sadr also is strong in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, where the Iraqi government imposed an overnight curfew Monday from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m., a Ministry of Interior spokesman said.
</snip>

This is a scary development. This clears the way for US troops to fight near the Shrines, and possibly damage and/or destroy them. :scared:

**Note to mods: Headline edited slightly to clarify who the Governor of Najaf is...

[Barrett808]

1. "The one thing that could unify Shiites against the Americans"

Mahdi Army fighters - who now control the shrine and have a few gunmen posted inside the shrine complex - point to the gold-leaf dome and one golden minaret, where tiles have been damaged by flying shrapnel. Damage to the shrine is the one thing that could unify Shiites against the Americans, we have been warned by people who don't like the Mahdi Army. The courtyard of the shrine itself is littered with chunks of shrapnel, and Mahdi Army fighters show a piece of the bomb that they say dropped into the shrine complex.

The battle for Najaf - A first-hand account (riveting)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=736459