Sistani Arrives in Najaf; DozensKilled in Kufa
By Karl Vick, Rajiv Chandrasekaran andFred Barbash
WashingtonPost Staff Writers
Thursday, August 26,2004; 11:15 AM
NAJAF, Iraq, Aug. 26 -- Iraq'smost revered
Shiitecleric,Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, arrived here on a peace mission Thursday,but the occasion was marked by considerable violence, numerous deathsand no firm sign of any resolution of the conflict that has been raginghere since Aug. 5.
Even before Sistani arrived, more than two dozen Iraqiswaiting for him were killed in two separate assaults in the nearbysuburb of Kufa. They had been preparing to march in a demonstrationorganized by Sistani in an effort to bring an end to the three weeks offurious fighting between U.S. troops and the militia of Shiite clericMoqtada Sadr, which is holed up in the shrineof ImamAli here.
In the first assault, mortarrounds(迫击炮弹) werefired into a crowd gathered at the main mosquein Kufa. Early reports said 27 people died while more than 60 peoplewere wounded. No group claimed responsibility.
In the second attack, gunmen opened fire on a group already onthe road from Kufa to Najaf. Reports from that attack remained sketchybut wire services said three were dead and many more wounded.
After Sistani reached the city, an exchange of gunfire betweenpolice and people in a surging crowd near the house where the cleric isstaying resulted in 10 more deaths and at least 20 injuries. Therewere varying accounts of how that violence started. But wireservice reports from the scene and officials agreed that armedcivilians were in the crowd, some of them marching around withsigns bearing Sadr's image.
Iraq's Health Ministry put the deathtollfor the day at 74, with 315 wounded. It was unclear how officialsarrived at that total.
Fighting in Najaf also claimed the life earlier in the day ofa U.S. Marine, the second to be killed in two days, bringing to 11 thenumber of American service personnel lost here since Aug. 5.
Meanwhile, the 73-year-old Sistani, who returned to his homecity from London where he was receiving medical treatment, was said byaides to be resting in a private home in Najaf after he arrived in along convoy from Basra inthe south.
But thousands hoping to march with him were stuck on the roadfrom Kufa to Najaf, their way blocked by security forces concernedabout the potential for more violence.
A Sistani spokesman, Hamed Khafaf, told reporters in Najafthat "now there are serious efforts to look for the mechanism" to bringpeace to Najaf. "We are waiting for the coming hours and we hope wewill be successful in preventing the destruction of the city ofscholars and knowledge" and in stopping "violations of the holy shrineof the Prince of the Faithful [meaning Imam Ali]."
The spokesman called "on all the faithful who are waiting tostay in their places and to wait for the instructions" from Sistani."If they cannot wait, they can return to their cities," Khafaf said.
Kufa is a key Sadr power base and lies adjacent to Najaf. The mosquethere is where Sadr often gives sermons during Friday prayers.
Television footageshowed Sistani entering Najaf in a massive convoy guarded by policevehicles with sirens wailing.A surging, swaying crowd ofthousands enveloped the convoy as it made its entrance. Many more wereconverging on Najaf on foot from several regions.
"We have been waiting for a long time for thearrival of Sayyid Sistani and we hope he'll solve the problem," saidHasan Athari, 34, a trader from Najaf dressed in a dirty whiteankle-length tunic as he stood in the street. "Our city, my family, ourbusiness, our house have all been destroyed."
His family, he said, isstaying in a refugee camp outside Najaf. "I used to have a small shop.I never needed to ask people for help. Now my family is living on whatpeople give then. If I have lunch today, I'll not have dinner. I hopeSistani will be able to get my life and dignity back."
On the other hand, Ali AbdulAmeer, 41, laborer fromNajaf said: "I don't believe this coward will be able to do anything.He ran away from Najaf and threw himself in their hands in London, so Idon't think he'll be able to do anything.
"Even if Sadr leaves thecity, who will govern it? We need a strong government able to controlthe city and keep it from destruction."
Both U.S. and Iraqiofficials, while worried about aspects of Sistani's plan for peace,have expressed the hope that he can succeed. While the day brought talkof cease-fires and of potential negotiations between Sadr's followers,Sistani's representatives and the interim government of Iraq, there wasno public sign of concrete progress.
Indeed, the violence seemedto escalate as civilianstook to the streets to join in Sistani's march.
It was uncertain what wouldhappen when the marchers reach the area around the shrine where therehas been heavy fighting for days between U.S. forces and Sadr'smilitiamen.
There appeared to be no clearcoordination between the Iraqi authorities and U.S. commanders over howto handle the pilgrims, who will be trying to move through the tight cordonestablishedby troops around the area.
As night fell, the U.S.military announced that it has suspended offensive operations in Najaf."At the request of the local and national Iraqi government, Iraqisecurity forces and the Multi-National Force . . . have temporarilysuspended offensive military operations to facilitate the return ofGrand Ayatollah al-Sistani to the holy city of Najaf," the military'sstatement said.
Earlier in the day, thegovernor of Najaf also announced a cease-fire to allow Sistani tonegotiate with representatives of Sadr on a peaceful end to an uprisingby Sadr. Iraqi interimPrime Minister Ayad Allawi said the cease-fire would last 24 hours toallow talks.
In a statement reported bythe Associated Press, Allawi said Sadr's representatives had indicatedthey would accept a peace plan put forward by Sistani. Under the plan,he said, Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters would be offered an amnestyif they gave up their weapons andagreed to leave peacefully from the Imam Ali shrine. Sadr would also beoffered safe passage if he agreed to end the uprising, Allawi said.
Several similar plans havebeen consummated and abandoned overthe past 10 days, however, and it was unclear whether the latestagreement was any more solid than the earlier ones.
Meanwhile, officers for unitsfighting in the city's badly battered center said that they had noguidance from senior commanders on how to deal with the arrival ofpeaceful demonstrators.
"We're going to send sometrucks [Humvees] out to stop people from going farther for their ownsafety," said Capt. Jeff Gardner of the 1st Cavalry Division's 5thRegiment, 1st Battalion. Another cavalrybattalion, the 2nd of the 7th Regiment,planned to "do some crowd control" from the position it was holding atthe main approach to the shrine.
Another American officer saidthe troops would only search those approaching the city and would allowthose without weapons to proceed. "My orders are, if they're civilians,if they're unarmed, let them through," said Maj. Jeff Cushman, a senioradviser to the 4th Battalion of the Iraqi Intervention Force. "Ifthey're armed, pretty much the Iraqi police will take care of them."
Cushman, speaking in the hotsand where 123 Iraqi troops were climbing into trucks for the shorttrip to a permanent police checkpoint, said: "These people have aright, if they're going to do it peacefully, to do what they want todo. . . . Hopefully these people can help end this on a peaceful note,because that's what everybody wants."
Fighting continued throughmidday as the city center rang with sniperfire, the roar of rocket-propelled grenades,mortars and, around noon, the thunderous impact of at least two500-pound bombs U.S. warplanes dropped on the south end of the parkinggarage behind the shrine.
Although Sistani has quietlydisagreed with Sadr's militant tactics, it is not clear what he wantsto accomplish through his march.
Iraqi political leadersexpressed concern that the march could be co-optedby Sadr's supporters and that an injection of thousands ofnoncombatants into the war-torn city could interfere with ongoingmilitary operations and allow the militiamen to escape.
U.S. commanders say they arecertain that Sadr used a public march toward the shrine during aprevious cease-fire as an opportunity to re-supply and reinforce hismilitia.
But, the political leaderssaid, it also could reduce tensions by pressuring Sadr to relinquishcontrol of the shrine tomore senior Shiite leaders, perhaps leading some fighters to laydown their arms.
Chandrasekaranreported from Baghdad. Barbash reported from Washington.
Shiite
n.
A member of the branch of Islam that regards Ali and his descendantsas the legitimate successors to Mohammed and rejects the first threecaliphs.
什叶派教徒一支承认阿里和他的后裔为穆罕穆德合法继承人而不承认第一批三个哈里发的伊斯兰教教派的成员
Cleric
[cler·ic|| 'kler?k]
(名)
教会圣职人员
toll1
[tEJl, tRl]
vi
（道路、港 口的）通行费，过路税
（因疾病、意外事故等的）伤亡，损失，代价
[俚]引诱(猎物)使其坠入陷阱; 诱惑
He tolled us on with fine promises.
他用漂亮的诺言诱惑我们。
toll2
[tEJl]
vi, vt
敲（钟），鸣钟； 一声一声地响
shrine
[?ra?n]
(名) 圣坛; 圣祠; 神龛; 神殿
(动) 将...置于神龛内
Mosque
[mɑsk/m?sk]
(名) 清真寺
Sketchy
['sketch·y|| 'sket??]
(形) 写生的, 概略的, 写生风格的
cordon
[cor·don|| 'k??dn]
(名)
哨兵线; 绶章; 饰带; 飞檐层 (动)
用警戒线围住 Amnesty
[am·nes·ty|| 'æmn?st?]
(名)
大赦; 特赦 (动)
对...实行大赦; 赦免 cavalry
[cav·al·ry|| 'kævlr?]
(名)
骑兵, 骑兵部队; 装甲兵, 装甲部队
sniper
['snip·er|| 'sna?p?(r)]
(名)
狙击兵; 狙击手 Grenade
[gre·nade|| gr?'ne?d]
(名)
手榴弹 co-opt
vt.由现会员选举, 指派
relinquish
[re·lin·quish|| r?'l??kw??]
v.tr.
re.lin.quished; re.lin.quish.ing; re.lin.quish.es;
To retire from; give up or abandon.
离开；放弃或抛弃
