74 die as Sistani arrives

2004-08-26 16:37

Najaf - A total of 74 people were killed and more than 350 others wounded in a mortar attack on Kufa's main mosque and a shooting at a demonstration on Thursday.

The killings happened as Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, entered Najaf on a mission to "save" the battered holy city.

His arrival in Najaf with thousands of supporters in his wake triggered a 24-hour ceasefire in the city where talks began with representatives of rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr.

But hopes raised by his arrival were dimmed by violent incidents in Najaf's twin city of Kufa where 74 people were killed, according to officials, and more attacks on pipelines in southern Iraq.

"The Najaf hospital received 39 bodies and 255 wounded and the one in Kufa 25 bodies and 60 wounded," said a health ministry official.

The bodies of another eight people killed in the demonstration and 42 wounded people were transported to Diwaniya, about 50km east of Najaf.

Forced their way into the mosque

Two other bodies and 19 wounded were taken to a hospital in Hilla, about 60km north of Najaf.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of people took advantage of the ceasefire suspending three weeks of fighting between Sadr's Mehdi army and United States and Iraqi government troops to force their way into the Imam Ali mausoleum.

This has been held by the militia for four months.

Sistani, treated to a euphoric welcome since returning from medical treatment in London on Wednesday, has signalled he wants all armed groups to disarm in Najaf and Kufa and all foreign troops to leave.

Talks between Sistani and Sadr's camps started almost immediately, said a spokesperson for the ayatollah, but it was not clear if the two leaders themselves had met face-to-face.

Earlier a statement from interim prime minister Iyad Allawi said: "I have ordered all military operations to stop for 24 hours in the holy Najaf, in accordance with the arrival of his holiness."

"This is our last call for peace and this is the last chance to put an end to the innocent bloodshed," he added, vowing to ensure a "safe passage" for Sadr if he disarmed and quit his stronghold in the mausoleum.

Najaf governor Adnan al-Zorfi, who has championed the use of US troops in Najaf, said American and Iraqi government soldiers would stick to their positions during the truce.

Patients even out in the grounds

But, he warned: "If there is no agreement after 24 hours, the fighting will resume."

In Kufa, doctors struggled to cope with the enormous casualties.

Pain-wracked and bloodied patients, mostly men, were stretched out in the corridors and garden of the town's Middle Euphrates hospital despite the intense heat.

Meanwhile, eight pipelines feeding two southern oilfields were sabotaged in an overnight explosion, dealing a new blow to the country's vital, but beleaguered oil industry, officials said.

- AFP