Iraq gives rebels hours to give up, battle rages

Iraq warned Shi'ite rebels besieged in a shrine in Najaf to surrender or face an attack that would "wipe them out", as government forces entered the battle zone for the first time.

US attack helicopters fired missiles and strafed militia positions in an ancient cemetrey that adjoins the Imam Ali mosque, where most of the Mehdi army loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have holed up during a three-week rebellion.

With fighting raging in the city, US tanks reinforced positions along the southern flank of the mosque. Black smoke rose from the area and automatic gunfire crackled after a bombardment from US warplanes and artillery that lasted well into Tuesday morning.

"We are in the last hours. This evening, Iraqi forces will reach the doors of the shrine and control it and appeal to the Mehdi army to throw down their weapons," interim Defence Minister Hazim al-Shalaan told a news conference at a US military base outside the southern city. "If they do not, we will wipe them out."

The ultimatum is the latest in a series of threats from the US-backed interim government that Iraqi forces will storm the shrine to disarm the militia.

In Baghdad, insurgents tried to assassinate Iraq's environment and education ministers in separate bombings that killed five of their bodyguards and wounded more than a dozen people, officials said.

Environment Minister Mishkat Moumin said she survived a suicide car bomb attack on her convoy in Baghdad. Education Minister Sami al-Mudhaffar was unhurt after a roadside bomb hit his convoy in the city, officials said.

A group linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attempt on Moumin and said it would not miss next time, according to an internet statement.

The attacks were the latest attempts to kill officials in the government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who took power from US-led occupiers barely two months ago and faces crises on many fronts, especially in Najaf.

"Serving the Iraqi people is not a crime that deserves this," an outraged Moumin told Reuters after the blast.

Reuters witnesses and Iraqis near the shrine in Najaf said they saw Iraqi forces for the first time in the battle zone.

"I saw at least 10 American tanks parked on Medina Street. It was impossible to get through today because snipers were everywhere," said Fadil Shakir, a local resident.

Medina is a strategic street divided between snipers on both sides. It is some 500 metres from the shrine.

A Reuters witness saw Iraqi National Guard troops in two pickup trucks appear for the first time. Witnesses said they saw many of them as well as some police around Medina Street.

US marines have done most of the fighting in Najaf, which has killed hundreds, driven oil prices to record highs and touched off clashes in seven other southern and central cities.

But any raid by US troops on Iraq's holiest Shi'ite shrine could trigger a firestorm of protest from the country's majority Shi'ite community.

A rocket fired by militants clipped the wall of the gold-domed mosque on Tuesday and may have damaged the building, the US military said. Both sides have accused each other of attacks near the shrine and of failing to respect holy ground.

Moumin said four of her bodyguards were killed in the suicide bombing. Up to 15 people were wounded. One of Mudhaffar's bodyguards died in the attack on his convoy.

"I opened the door to leave for work and the blast knocked me over," said Ali al-Tai, a local resident standing in front of his home only metres from the blast site, blood from victims splattered on his shirt.

In July, Iraq's justice minister survived a suicide car bomb attack on his convoy in Baghdad. The then head of the Iraqi Governing Council, Izzedin Salim, was killed in May in a similar strike. Both of those attacks were claimed by Zarqawi.

Insurgents also attacked a truck and an ambulance taking aid to Najaf, killing two people and setting the vehicles on fire, a Reuters witness said. Cameraman Alaa Saad said from the scene the vehicles were attacked south of Baghdad.

But news that Iraq's crude exports were back to normal on Monday helped calm jittery oil markets. Prices reached nearly US$50 ($76.42) a barrel last week after sabotage and threats cut exports.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq