Clashes continue despite truce
2004-05-28 13:33
Kufa - Clashes broke out in the Iraqi Shiite city of Kufa on Friday despite a truce called 24 hours earlier between militia of Moqtada Sadr and US forces, a close Sadr aide said.
"US troops attacked us at about seven this morning (03:00 GMT) from both the entrance of Kufa, the bridge, and from the direction of their base," said Sheikh Taher al-Asadi.
"We didn't fire any mortars on them and we have been committed to the ceasefire."
But an Iraqi journalist working for Iranian news agency IRNA said "militiamen opened fire with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades when three US tanks advanced towards the centre of Kufa".
Sabah al-Tamimi added that the tanks stopped about 500m from the Kufa Grand Mosque, where Sadr regularly gives a sermon at Friday prayers, and that sporadic explosions continued to be heard in the city.
100m from mosque
Asidi said the US forces got within almost 100m of the mosque before pulling back.
"They are trying to arrest or kill Sadr and to prevent people from expressing their support for their leader," Asidi claimed.
Residents of the city said the clashes started at 06:00 (02:00 GMT), with gunfire and explosions heard.
Thousands of men, including heavily armed militia, were seen in the back streets between Kufa and neighbouring Najaf after US troops blocked off the roads between the two cities.
The men, some on foot, others in buses, were heard chanting Sadr's name and "We will never be defeated."
The mosque at Kufa was filled with people and they spilled out onto the streets outside before the start of weekly prayers, a correspondent at the scene said.
Some of them had brought plastic bags and paper sheets to pray on, apparently oblivious to the danger.
US troops stationed around the governor's office in Najaf said their orders were to observe the ceasefire. A heavy US military presence was seen on the road to Kufa.
The clashes came after a ceasefire started at 02:00 on Thursday (2200 GMT on Wednesday) between the two sides to try to end one of the most intractable problems facing Iraq in the run-up to the June 30 return of sovereignty.
Sadr has offered to withdraw his fighters from Najaf and Kufa as long as US forces also pull back as part of an agreement to end nearly two months of fighting that has left hundreds of militiamen dead.
The details of the deal are to be thrashed out in continued talks between Sadr and senior Shiite politicians, Iraqi officials said.
The deal does not provide for the disarmament of the militia and makes no mention of other cities where Sadr's Mehdi Army is present.
Neither was it clear if or when Sadr would go before a court to face charges relating to the murder of a rival cleric last year.
Speaking for the US forces, Dan Senor said they were "cautiously optimistic" about the chances of peace, but insisted the truce was only a first step towards a lasting agreement.
- AFP