77 Iraqis Reported Killed in Najaf Fighting
VOA News
20 Aug 2004, 08:09 UTC
The Iraqi holy city of Najaf is reported quiet, after a day of fighting and a night of heavy bombardment of Shi'ite militia positions that killed at least 77 Iraqis and wounded 70 more.
Defiant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr still refuses to disarm his militia, but aides say he is willing to pull his militiamen out of the Imam Ali Shrine and hand over control to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
The influential Ayatollah al-Sistani is in London undergoing medical treatment, but his aides say he has agreed to take responsibility for the shrine.
Earlier, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told British radio that Iraqi forces would not attack Moqtada al-Sadr in the mosque.
Meanwhile, in the key Sunni city of Fallujah, two people have been killed in U.S. airstrikes. Two U.S. Marines were also killed in the area.
Some information for this article provided by AP and Reuters.
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