Conference delegates call on militants to withdraw from Najaf shrine

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Delegates at Iraq's National Conference called Monday for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to abandon his uprising against U.S. and Iraqi troops and pull his fighters out of a holy shrine in Najaf.

Al-Sadr and his followers have fought U.S. and Iraqi forces from within the Imam Ali shrine, one of Shia Islam's most sacred sites, and fighting has spread to other parts of the country.

"This is not right. We demand Muqtada al-Sadr withdraw from the holy shrine because it's not the specific property of one person," Hussein al-Sadr, a distant cousin to the cleric, told the conference. "It belongs to everybody. Shrines should not be controlled by one man, regardless of his status."

The majority of delegates raised their hands in favor of Hussein al-Sadr's proposal to send a delegation to Najaf to meet with the militant cleric and ask him to stop fighting and join the political process.

"The door is very open to all Iraqis, regardless of their religion, ethnic background, to join the free political process," Hussein al-Sadr said.

Ahmed al-Shaibany, an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, welcomed the conference's initiative, saying that "we are ready to accept any mediation for a peaceful solution."

Delegates also said some of al-Sadr's people attended the conference Monday for the first time since it began Sunday.

The three-day conference, with 1,300 religious, political and civic leaders in attendance, will help elect a 100-member national council that is expected to act as a watchdog over the interim government ahead of elections scheduled for January.

But the fighting in Najaf has threatened to overshadow the conference and many delegates have voiced opposition to working on democratic progress while the country is wracked by violence and military operations by coalition troops.

On Monday, Falah Hassan, from the Shiite Political Council, walked out of the conference, following an ultimatum his group issued on Sunday that his delegates would leave if U.S. troops didn't pull out of Najaf within 24 hours. The rest of his group remained at the conference, however.

Some delegates expressed optimism that this first fragile taste of democracy would succeed.

"Discussions were good yesterday and we hope we can carry on and reach an agreement," said Hameed al-Kafaei, former spokesman for the now dissolved Iraqi Governing Council. "There were heated debates, emotional debates, but everyone was there, we kept on going."

The conference is an unprecedented forum for Iraqis of all ethnic and religious groups to discuss their visions for the future of their country, which is struggling with a Sunni insurgency, a renewed uprising by Shiite militants and constant sabotage attacks on its reconstruction efforts.

The gathering is being held under intense security in the fortified Green Zone enclave in Baghdad. A 15-foot-high concrete barriers blocks the entrance. Bridges leading to the area were barricaded Sunday and the government imposed a daytime curfew for the area.

Despite the precautions, explosions shook the conference hall Sunday when a mortar barrage hit a nearby commuter bus station nearby, killing two people and wounding 17. Several explosions also were heard in Baghdad on Monday, but their origin was not known.

In January, Iraq is to hold elections to choose a transitional government. The newly elected government then will convene a national convention to draft a constitution to be put to the voters in October 2005. Iraqis will then hold another vote in December 2005 for a constitutionally based government.