Iraqi guardsman ring the Najaf shrine

NAJAF, Iraq – US and Iraqi forces battled militants in Najaf yesterday and Iraqi National Guardsmen advanced to within 200 meters of the holy city’s Imam Ali Shrine compound as Iraq’s defence minister demanded the insurgents inside surrender.

Addressing Iraqi National Guard troops in Najaf, defense minister Hazem Shaalan said Iraqi troops would head toward the shrine to await the signal for a raid or the capitulation of the militants. “When your brothers approach the holy shrine compound, they will direct calls of mercy to those (militants) to surrender,” Shaalan said.”They have hours to surrender.”Meanwhile in Baghdad, assailants bombed the convoys of two government ministers in separate attacks that killed five people and a suicide bomber but left the ministers unharmed, officials said.Many militants have fled the Najaf shrine and the surrounding area over the last few days as nearly three weeks of fighting has intensified, witnesses said.US helicopter gunships and Bradley fighting vehicles were attacking militant positions in downtown Najaf, and militants returned fire with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.Yesterday, Iraqi forces accompanied US troops into the Old City for the first time in recent days and were stationed about 200 meters from the shrine.Clashes between militants and the combined US and Iraqi forces sent the crackle of gunfire ringing through the streets as plumes of black smoke rose above the city.Shaalan said the Iraqi troops were working yesterday to cordon off the compound.Iraqi officials have said that any raid on the shrine would be conducted by Iraqi forces.The presence of US troops at the holy site would infuriate the nation’s Shiite majority and could spark a far wider rebellion against the interim government.Fears that the violence could spread outside Iraq have led some of Iraq’s neighbours to call for international intervention to resolve the Najaf crisis, a call that foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari rejected out of hand.- Nampa-AP”When your brothers approach the holy shrine compound, they will direct calls of mercy to those (militants) to surrender,” Shaalan said.”They have hours to surrender.”Meanwhile in Baghdad, assailants bombed the convoys of two government ministers in separate attacks that killed five people and a suicide bomber but left the ministers unharmed, officials said.Many militants have fled the Najaf shrine and the surrounding area over the last few days as nearly three weeks of fighting has intensified, witnesses said.US helicopter gunships and Bradley fighting vehicles were attacking militant positions in downtown Najaf, and militants returned fire with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.Yesterday, Iraqi forces accompanied US troops into the Old City for the first time in recent days and were stationed about 200 meters from the shrine.Clashes between militants and the combined US and Iraqi forces sent the crackle of gunfire ringing through the streets as plumes of black smoke rose above the city.Shaalan said the Iraqi troops were working yesterday to cordon off the compound.Iraqi officials have said that any raid on the shrine would be conducted by Iraqi forces.The presence of US troops at the holy site would infuriate the nation’s Shiite majority and could spark a far wider rebellion against the interim government.Fears that the violence could spread outside Iraq have led some of Iraq’s neighbours to call for international intervention to resolve the Najaf crisis, a call that foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari rejected out of hand.- Nampa-AP