Iraqis Decline to Send 2nd Peace Mission to Najaf

[seemslikeadream]

By ALEX BERENSON
and SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: August 18, 2004




AJAF, Iraq, Aug. 18 — An Iraqi national conference in Baghdad declined today to send a second delegation to Najaf after the rebel cleric Moktada al-Sadr refused to meet here on Tuesday with its first peace team, which had tried to end fighting between his militia and American forces in the holy city.

It was not yet clear whether Mr. Sadr's refusal to meet the delegates on Tuesday will scuttle the chance for talks between him and the interim Iraqi government. Members of the mission, who were in Najaf, said they were not upset that Mr. Sadr had turned them away, and both sides said lower-level discussions had been cordial.

Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents fired a mortar bomb into a busy market in the northern city of Mosul today, killing 5 civilians and wounding 21, said officials quoted by Reuters.

The national delegation had traveled to Najaf to ask that Mr. Sadr give up control of the Imam Ali shrine and join the political process in return for amnesty for his fighters. For almost two weeks, his forces have battled Americans in Najaf, in the Sadr City district in Baghdad, and in several cities across southern Iraq.

American commanders say they are inflicting heavy casualties on Mr. Sadr's forces, but morale at the shrine appeared high, with at least 1,000 men inside the holy site and many more guerrillas scattered around the Old City.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/18/international/middleeast/18CND-IRAQ.html

[iconoclastic cat]

1. What do you want to bet that Iraq explodes during the RNC?

If I had money, I'd bet that it does.

[bemildred]

2. He's not giving up the shrine. Not anytime soon.

The "deal" they are offering is status quo ante, maybe they
should not have picked the fight in the first place.