8-16-04
DEBKAfile's military sources report: Behind news blackout, US forces in Najef inching forward to clear Shiite cemetery adjacent to Imam Ali Mosque of radical Sadrist Shiite fighters.
Sadr is bombarded with contradictory decrees from Iraqi and Iranian Shiite clerics — some telling him to evacuate mosque, others to stay put.
He plans to force prolonged US siege of mosque with intermittent claims of damage to shrine. Americans say Najef standoff will be decided by fatwas not guns. Opening of National Congress of 1,300 delegates from across Iraq was marred by protests against US-Iraqi offensive against radical Shiite cleric Sadr, boycotts and explosions in Baghdad.
American forces complete encirclement of Sunni Triangle towns of Falluja, Samarra, Ramadi and Balad.
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