Delegates from Iraq’s National Conference arrived at the Imam Ali Shrine on Tuesday, amid heavy fighting, to urge militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr to vacate the city’s mausoleum, an AFP correspondent said.
The delegation entered the huge shrine compound at about 7pm (3pm GMT) at the heart of the city’s historic centre, where continuous, heavy gunfire raged throughout the day, peppered with mortar blasts.
“This is not a negotiation. This is a friendly mission to convey the message of the national conference,” Sheikh Hussein al-Sadr, a relative of Moqtada, who led the delegation, said at a United States base in Najaf after arriving from Baghdad.
Shortly before their arrival at the mausoleum, at least two US warplanes screeched through the skies above the city, said an AFP correspondent.
Earlier on Tuesday, the delegation of Iraqis was forced to delay its mission to the holy city when it could not get a military escort for the dangerous journey.
The 60 mediators from Iraq’s National Conference had planned to leave early on Tuesday morning to meet radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and appeal to his followers to put down their arms and join Iraq’s political process.
As the delegation waited in Baghdad, a mortar round hit a busy street several kilometres away, killing seven people and injuring 47 others, officials said.
The blast on al-Rasheed Street set one building on fire and damaged seven cars, said Colonel Adnan Abdul-Rahman, of the Interior Ministry. — Sapa-AFP
Peace mission to Najaf delayed