Al-Sadr Forces Attack U.S. Convoy in Iraq

NAJAF, Iraq – Iraqi mediators attempted on Sunday to set up negotiations with American officials on ending the U.S. standoff with a radical Shiite Muslim cleric at Najaf, while his militiamen attacked a U.S. convoy further south. In Fallujah, residents and insurgents cheered the end of the U.S. siege.

A number of Humvees and trucks were in flames after gunmen loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attacked the convoy Sunday morning between the southern cities of Basra and Amarah, witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The night before, militiamen clashed with British troops for several hours in Amarah, first attacking a patrol then firing rocket-propelled grenades at the British base. Five Iraqis were killed and six British soldiers were wounded in the gunbattles. On Sunday morning, al-Sadr forces fired mortars at the U.S. base in Najaf, causing no damage or casualties.

The clashes came as al-Sadr, in the holy city of Najaf, appeared to be looking for a way out of his confrontation with U.S. forces while avoiding arrest. Mediators said Najaf’s police chief wanted to meet U.S. officials Sunday to present a five-point proposal.

But the top coalition official in Najaf, Phil Kosnett, insisted al-Sadr must “face justice” and said there were no plans for a Sunday meeting. “The coalition is not negotiating with anyone on any five-point plan,” he said, though the coalition “meets with local officials every day to discuss the situation.”

Meanwhile, Marines who pulled back from enforcing a cordon on southern Fallujah had returned to their previous duties, patrolling outlying villages, giving way to a newly created Iraqi brigade that the Americans said would root out die-hard guerrillas in the Sunni militant stronghold.

The new “Fallujah Brigade,” put together by former Saddam Hussein-era generals, will likely include some former army soldiers who fought against the Marines over the past month, U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. James Conway said.

Conway insisted that the U.S. withdrawal did not mean a let-up in the pursuit of the guerrillas.

“They understand our view that these people must be killed or captured,” Conway said. “They have not flinched. And their commander has said as much to his assembly of officers.”

The “Fallujah Brigade,” led by Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh, fanned out and imposed a cordon around nearly the entire southern half of Fallujah.

If all goes well on Fallujah’s south side, the Iraqi force will next replace Marines in the north within a few days, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

Scores of Iraqis gathered in the streets Saturday, some flashing “V” for victory signs and raising the Iraqi flag. Motorists drove through the streets, shouting “Islam, it’s your day!” and “We redeem Islam with our blood!”

The U.S. base in Najaf, meanwhile, came under mortar fire Sunday morning, despite claims by mediators that al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army militia had agreed to a truce supposed to last through the day. There were no casualties, U.S. officials said.

The five-point plan, put together by tribal leaders after talks with Najaf police chief Gen. Ali al-Yaser, calls for the al-Mahdi Army to leave Najaf and for al-Sadr not to be jailed on a murder charge until a new government is formed, according to Hakem al-Shibli, a member of the negotiating team.

“We agree to all these points,” said al-Shibli, head of the National Coalition of Clans and Tribes in Najaf province. “All the conditions are legitimate and rational.”

He said Najaf’s tribes would reject any American demand to arrest al-Sadr, who is wanted under an Iraqi warrant. “If the Americans insist on it, despite the compromises that Seyed Muqtada has made, it would not be just,” al-Shibli said.

The mediators – made up of tribesmen and a former judge – received the blessing of the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, Iraq’s most senior and influential Shiite cleric, al-Shibli said.

However, an al-Sadr senior spokesman who met with the mediators Saturday, Sheik Qais al-Khazali, was less optimistic, saying all other efforts to end the standoff had failed because of Americans. He said that if the Americans rejected a peaceful settlement, al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army would fight.

“All the political attempts to reach a peaceful settlement have failed. As you know, it is all because of the American side and not us. We prefer negotiations and want to avoid bloodshed,” al-Khazali said.

Al-Sadr is accused in the slaying of a rival cleric last year. The U.S. military moved to capture him after his militia staged an uprising across the south, sparked by the arrest of one of his aides. That uprising has died down, but his militiamen still dominate Najaf, Kufa and Karbala, the three holiest Shiite cities in Iraq.

In Najaf, the local police chief, tribal leaders and the various political and religious groups have been meeting for three days to negotiate a settlement for police to take over security in the streets of Najaf, where al-Sadr’s militia has for weeks held sway.

The new proposal calls for:

– Withdrawal of coalition forces from the center of Najaf and the nearby city of Kufa

– No American patrols in Najaf and Kufa

– A guarantee al-Sadr’s militia will refrain from shooting at coalition troops

– An end to any armed presence in Najaf

– Legal procedures against al-Sadr left for a new elected government

Al-Khazali said al-Sadr was also demanding the release of political prisoners.

Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed outside the Najaf-Kufa area, and a contingent has moved into a base within the city, about three miles from sensitive holy sites at the heart of Najaf. The Americans have clashed occasionally with al-Sadr followers outside Najaf.