Transfer of Shrine Control Proving Tricky

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NAJAF, Iraq - Militiamen loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr removed weapons from the revered Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf but remained in control of the holy site Friday amid efforts to end their 2-week-old uprising. Fighters from al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia were inside the shrine but left their guns outside. Armed militiamen continued to circulate around the walled shrine compound in Najaf's Old City.

The firebrand anti-U.S. cleric agreed to take a further step and surrender the site to Iraq (news - web sites)'s highest Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani. But in the latest twist in the tortuous search for a resolution to the crisis, al-Sadr and al-Sistani aides late Friday night were still trying to agree on how to transfer control. An aide to al-Sistani insisted al-Sadr's followers must completely leave the site before religious authorities would take the keys to the shrine that symbolize control.

"If they want to vacate the holy shrine compound and close the doors, then the office of the religious authority in holy Najaf will take these keys," Sheik Hamed Khafaf said from London, where al-Sistani was undergoing medical treatment. "Until now, this hasn't happened."
Still, with efforts to find a peaceful solution intensifying, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi on Friday backed off threats to storm the site, and his national security adviser said the government wants al-Sadr to join the political process. The Mahdi Army has used the golden-domed shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, as a stronghold and refuge in fighting with U.S. forces since Aug. 5. Turning over the site would likely mean an end to al-Sadr's revolt for the time being — though it would not necessarily mean the dismantling of his militia, a demand he has so far rejected.

Confusion was created when an Interior Ministry spokesman, Sabah Kadhim, said Friday evening that police had entered the shrine and arrested 400 armed militants without incident. However, an Associated Press reporter and other journalists who were in the shrine throughout the day said no police entered and no arrests were made. In the evening, no Iraqi police or security forces were in the shrine.

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A spokesman for the Grand Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani says the Mahdi Army has officialy turned over control of the Imam Ali mosque to Shia religious authorities."The keys were handed to the office of the Ayat Allah," said Sayid Murtadha al-Kashmir, an al-Sistani spokesman, told AFP on Friday.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6D629FC1-D279-46C3-B539-74F98CCFB299.htm