IRAQ: US marines and Shia militiamen fought fierce battles around a shrine in the Iraqi city of Najaf yesterday in some of the heaviest fighting since the 20-day-old rebellion erupted.
At least 15 explosions, many sounding like artillery shells, rocked the area near the Imam Ali mosque, where the al-Mahdi army fighters of radical Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have holed up in defiance of the US-backed interim government.
Gunfire echoed through the alleyways near the shrine while US tanks kept up their encirclement around the city's heart.
Shrapnel fell in the courtyard of the gold-domed mosque, whose outer walls have already been slightly damaged in fighting that has killed hundreds and driven oil prices to record highs.
News that Iraq's crude exports were back to normal yesterday for the first time in two weeks could calm jittery oil markets.
Exports had been sharply reduced due to sabotage and threats from militants. Oil prices rose to nearly $50 a barrel last week but have since eased.
Mr al-Sadr's whereabouts are unknown. Police in Najaf said they had information that he had fled to Sulaimaniya, in Kurdish northern Iraq. But the cleric's aides and local government officials in Sulaimaniya denied the report.
Overnight a US AC-130 gunship blasted rebel positions after a weekend of fruitless talks between Mr al-Sadr's aides and religious authorities to hand over the keys of the shrine to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most respected Shia cleric.
In an apparent relaxation of Mr al-Sadr's demand that the al-Mahdi army guard the mosque even when it is handed over, one of his top aides said Shia authorities would be responsible.
"The religious establishment will be in charge of security and they should have their own security force," said Sheikh Ahmed al-Sheibani, also a militia commander.
Speaking inside the mosque, Sheikh al-Sheibani said the cleric's fighters would become "normal citizens" if US forces returned to their bases and the southern city became stable.
The uprising is a challenge to interim Prime Minister Mr Iyad Allawi, who took over from US-led occupiers two months ago and faces the task of getting Iraq ready for elections in January. His government has tried to defuse the crisis with a mix of threats to storm the shrine and peace offerings.
Interior Minister Mr Falah al-Naqib said yesterday: "The government's stand has been clear from the beginning - withdrawal from Najaf or from the holy shrine, disbanding of militias, and there is a chance to participate in Iraqi political life."
Asked how long the government would wait, he said: "There are limits and I believe time is running out. It could be days or hours, these decisions are taken according to developments."
Serious damage to the Najaf mosque could enrage millions of Shias and fuel hostility to the US presence in Iraq.
Mr al-Sadr had insisted that Ayatollah al-Sistani send a delegation to take an inventory of precious items in the mosque before it was handed over. Sheikh al-Sheibani said that was no longer necessary. The ayatollah, who usually lives in Najaf, is in London recovering from surgery.
The rebellion also triggered violence in seven other southern and central cities, including Baghdad. Hospital officials said four Iraqis were killed in fighting in the Shia slum district of Sadr City in Baghdad yesterday. - (Reuters)