Passions run high as eerie Najaf awaits fighting

1.00pm

NAJAF, Iraq - Shi'ite Muslim militants bracing for a major offensive on their positions in Najaf left an unmistakable warning on Sunday to anyone who supports the US-backed Iraqi police fighting them.

"They dumped him here this morning. First they killed him and then they gouged his eyes out. He was a policeman," said an Iraqi man standing over the corpse covered in ragged blankets.

He was one of the few Iraqis who ventured outside their homes as fighters loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr roamed nearly empty streets in packed trucks, took up positions on sandbags and vowed to fight to the death.

Iraq's interim government said on Saturday talks to end fighting had failed and announced it would resume military operations in Najaf, a city that is sacred to millions of Shi'ites around the world.

Najaf residents are taking that statement seriously after previous fighting killed hundreds of people.

Nerves were put further on edge by several loud blasts that echoed from the centre of the city on Sunday, but there were no signs of a full-blown offensive by US and Iraqi forces.

About five blasts echoed from near an ancient cemetery in the city, where the Mehdi Army of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has dug in among the graves.

Earlier, an explosion was heard near the Imam Ali Mosque where hundreds of Sadr's armed fighters are holed up, sending Iraqis running down the street as the militants loaded their AK-47 assault rifles.

As explosions and gunfire from fighting in a nearby ancient cemetery rocked the area, young militants took cover behind pillars while others sped by on motorcycles.

One man was killed and carried away on a stretcher and two were wounded when a rocket hit the outside of the shrine.

The street leading to the shrine was teeming with members of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, some clad in black with headbands and others in plain clothes but just as fiery.

Karrar, a 12-year-old boy who looked as if he could barely hold up an AK-47, said with a smile that he uses the weapon to fire at American Humvees and tanks.

Beside him, 75-year-old Fadel Abbas, with a white beard and one tooth, was just as enthusiastic. "I will fight for the Mehdi Army. I want to die a martyr for the Mehdi Army."

Sadr, a young cleric who has won followers by challenging the Americans and taking up the cause of Iraq's many dispossessed, is posing the biggest challenge to interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Around the Imam Ali shrine, a throng of Iraqis quickly gathered to air their grievances.

"Allawi is a thug just like Saddam Hussein" and "the entire Iraqi government should step down" and "where is the electricity?" were just some of the complaints.

Down the street young men cooked rice and beans for protesters who marched to Najaf in support of the cleric.

The festive atmosphere was mixed with apprehension in a city that was supposed to flourish as the spiritual capital of Shi'ites after the fall of Saddam, not serve as a battleground for American warplanes and mortars fired by teenagers.

Najaf residents don't have to look far to understand what kind of destruction may lie ahead.

The sprawling market which once buzzed with Iraqis buying food and clothing was burnt down during fighting which erupted 11 days ago.

Nearby alleyways were deserted, except for a few residents who stood on doorways watching the movement of cars and militiamen who rule the streets. Some said snipers were positioned on rooftops. US tanks were positioned in the alleyways.

"The Americans may have tanks and fighter planes but we are not scared. We will beat them with this AK-47," said a crippled militant in a wheelchair who was pushed in the baking heat for about five hours in a march to Najaf.

"We will kill, we will fight," he said, as a crowd began chanting "Moqtada, Moqtada, Moqtada."

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq