Vatican ‘will mediate’ in Iraq

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican is willing to act as a mediator in attempts to end fighting in the Iraqi city of Najaf between supporters of a dissident Muslim cleric and US and Iraqi troops, a top Vatican official said yesterday.

Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, told Italian state radio that if official mediation were requested, the Vatican would “very willingly” provide it, adding that Pope John Paul II has never declined such requests. Since August 5, militants loyal to dissident Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been fighting US and Iraqi troops in the holy city of Najaf.”For their part (Iraqis) have to give up the use of violence because these killings have really been a dishonour to this noble people,” Sodano said.Sodano also said all forces should “respect the holy character of the city.Therefore, the appeal that I make in the name of the pope is that there is a return in any case to honest talks.” Meanwhile fierce clashes raged in Baghdad’s mainly Shi’ite suburb yesterday, with militiamen exploding a bomb under a US tank and setting it on fire, witnesses and the US military said.A spokesman for the US First Cavalry Division said the crew escaped from the tank with minor wounds.US forces had sealed Sadr City, a slum of two million people on the edge of the capital, earlier yesterday after days of skirmishes that coincided with a radical Shi’ite uprising in at least eight cities in central and southern Iraq.Witnesses said Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr hit the tank with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and set it ablaze.However, the US spokesman said a roadside bomb disabled the vehicle, which was then set ablaze.- Nampa-Reuters-APSince August 5, militants loyal to dissident Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been fighting US and Iraqi troops in the holy city of Najaf.”For their part (Iraqis) have to give up the use of violence because these killings have really been a dishonour to this noble people,” Sodano said.Sodano also said all forces should “respect the holy character of the city.Therefore, the appeal that I make in the name of the pope is that there is a return in any case to honest talks.” Meanwhile fierce clashes raged in Baghdad’s mainly Shi’ite suburb yesterday, with militiamen exploding a bomb under a US tank and setting it on fire, witnesses and the US military said.A spokesman for the US First Cavalry Division said the crew escaped from the tank with minor wounds.US forces had sealed Sadr City, a slum of two million people on the edge of the capital, earlier yesterday after days of skirmishes that coincided with a radical Shi’ite uprising in at least eight cities in central and southern Iraq.Witnesses said Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr hit the tank with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and set it ablaze.However, the US spokesman said a roadside bomb disabled the vehicle, which was then set ablaze.- Nampa-Reuters-AP