Situation in Najaf Unclear
VOA News
20 Aug 2004, 13:51 UTC
There are conflicting reports on whether Iraqi police or Shi'ite militiamen are in control of the Imam Ali Shrine in the city of Najaf.
Iraq's interior ministry says police and Shi'ite religious authorities entered the shrine and about 500 lightly armed militiamen surrendered, leaving the authorities in control of the holy site.
But a top aide to radical Shi'tie cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, as well as some journalists on the scene, say the militiamen are still holed up in the shrine and it remains under their control.
The whereabouts of the cleric is not known. Earlier, he agreed to cede responsibility for the mosque to local religious authorities connected to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Iraq's health ministry says 77 Iraqis have been killed and 70 wounded in the past 24 hours of fighting in Najaf.
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