May 12, 2004
 
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers backed by tanks and helicopters battled fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr near a mosque in the holy city of Karbala Wednesday, hours after Iraqi leaders agreed on a proposal that would end al-Sadr's standoff with the U.S.-led forces. Up to 25 insurgents were killed, the coalition said.

Half of the Mukhaiyam mosque, which had served as a base for al-Sadr followers, was destroyed and seven hotels were on fire after tanks opened fire and jets bombed the area. Most of the shops in Tal al-Zeinabiya, a central market, and three ambulances were also destroyed.

American troops and al-Sadr's followers also fought overnight on the outskirts of two other southern cities, Kufa and Najaf. Residents heard large explosions. One Iraqi was killed and four were wounded in Kufa, and four Iraqis were wounded in Najaf, hospital officials said.

U.S. soldiers raided houses Tuesday night in Sadr City, a Baghdad neighborhood where support for al-Sadr is strong, witnesses said. Three Iraqis were killed. At a funeral ceremony Wednesday for one of the slain men, mourners raised Iraqi flags and al-Sadr posters as they chanted: "Down, down U.S.A."

American forces killed 20 to 25 "enemy" fighters in the Karbala battles, while seven coalition soldiers were wounded, a coalition official said on condition of anonymity. Four of the soldiers returned to duty, the official said.

A witness counted the bodies of 14 Iraqis lying in al-Jumhouriya street, a main road in Karbala, and said U.S. snipers were targeting anyone who moved in the mostly empty streets.

Witnesses said American soldiers first tried to enter the mosque, but then traded fire with al-Sadr followers who had moved to the buildings around it. Fighting lasted for several hours. The mosque is less than a mile from one of the holiest Shiite sites in the world, the Imam Hussein shrine.

Footage broadcast by Fox News, which has a reporter traveling with U.S. troops of the 1st Armored Division, showed a building on fire and a U.S. vehicle trying to knock down a wall.

On Tuesday, Iraqi political and tribal leaders in Najaf said al-Sadr will end the standoff with American troops if the coalition postpones its legal case against him and establishes an Iraqi force to patrol thecity.

However, the offer hinges on an agreement that U.S. forces pull out of the city and Kufa, and al-Sadr's militia lays down its weapons, the leaders said. Al-Sadr made a similar offer earlier this month.

On Wednesday, a senior coalition official said the coalition will not negotiate with al-Sadr over its demands that he face justice, and that his militia be withdrawn from all government buildings and disbanded. However, the official said on condition of anonymity that the coalition would welcome efforts by "individuals" to help fulfill its demands.

On Tuesday, the new U.S.-appointed governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zurufi, said he will ask the U.S.-led administration to defer murder charges against al-Sadr until after the Americans transfer power to a new Iraqi administration June 30. However, the militias will have to disband and disarm, and local police will take over security of the province, al-Zurufi said.

Al-Sadr has been holed up in Najaf since last month after U.S. authorities announced an arrest warrant against him in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate rival cleric.

Mansour al-Assadi, a senior tribal leader, said a proposed deal would require all armed groups to withdraw from Najaf in an effort to defuse rising tensions among rival Iraqi groups.

In exchange, murder charges against al-Sadr would be postponed until a permanent constitution is adopted next year, and he would be tried by an Islamic court.

Qays al-Khaz'ali, a senior aide to al-Sadr who attended the meeting, said the agreement will be submitted to Najaf's Shiite religious leaders for approval before becoming an official offer.

The Iraqi government due to take office June 30 will not be elected but appointed after consultations with U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is in Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi and American officials. Elections are expected by January.

Also Wednesday, gunmen fired on a car carrying Iraqi security forces north of Baghdad, killing one man and seriously wounding his brother, Iraqi authorities said. Two other members of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Civil Defense were hurt in the attack near the city of Baqouba.

In Samarra, another town north of Baghdad, about 20 gunmen raided a police station Tuesday night, and the seven police inside fled. The attackers then detonated a bomb that destroyed the building and two police cars.

Baqouba and Samarra are largely Sunni Muslim towns that formed a core of support for Saddam Hussein's former regime.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040512/D82GVLVG0.html