Article: Najaf Aims To Be The 'Capital' Of Iraq's South

Article: Najaf, Renewed; The religious center sways the world's 170 million Shiites--and its clerics will play an enormous role in the evolution of Iraq.(Cover Story)
Newsweek International;  March 1, 2004 ;     700+ words ......Shiite hierarchy in Najaf. The United States...struggles to reinvent Iraq--not least an armed...of governance that Iraq adopts. Najaf and the Shiites suffered...ensure the welfare of Najaf, and cemented the...inside and outside Iraq. Like those of other...centers, however, ...

Article: Holy Najaf: City where politics and spirituality coincide may hold key to Iraq's future
AP Worldstream;  December 26, 2003 ;     700+ words ......26-2003 Dateline: NAJAF, Iraq In this holy city...could shape the new Iraq. In the ashes of Saddam...Hussein's Sunni regime, Najaf's robed and elderly...be buried back in Iraq," said Saad Khodeir Abu Sibia, one of Najaf's 200 undertakers...

Article: Iraq cleric brokers peace in Najaf
Daily Breeze;  August 27, 2004 ;     700+ words ...NAJAF, Iraq -- Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah...Sistani, made a dramatic return to Najaf on Thursday and swiftly won agreement...abandon the U.S.-led coalition and Iraq's government. Fighting eased in Najaf after al-Sistani arrived, and the...

Article: Shiite struggle is crucial for Iraq A drama in An Najaf
International Herald Tribune;  April 18, 2003 ;     687 words ......balance.The scene is An Najaf, home to Iraq's holiest Shiite Muslim...Washington's cleric in Iraq, Sheikh Abdul Majid...whose father was An Najaf's grand ayatollah from...Shiite authority in Iraq. The battle for An Najaf is as much theological...

Article: Talks to end violence in Najaf break down; Militants say a deal had been reached before Iraq's prime minister quashed it
Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque);  August 15, 2004 ;     506 words ...NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Negotiations to end the fighting in Najaf broke down Sunday...chance. The fighting in Najaf has angered many in Iraq's Shiite majority...and just hours after Najaf's governor said he...breakthrough was imminent - Iraq's National Security...

Article: Iraq's top cleric wins agreement from rebel and government for peace deal in Najaf
AP Worldstream;  August 27, 2004 ;     700+ words ......Worldstream 08-27-2004 Dateline: NAJAF, Iraq Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand...made a dramatic return to Najaf and swiftly won agreement from...the U.S.-led coalition and Iraq's government. Fighting eased in Najaf after al-Sistani arrived, and...

Article: Blasts Kill At Least 64 In Iraq's Holy Cities; Attacks in Najaf, Karbala Appear to Target Shiites
The Washington Post;  December 20, 2004 ;     700+ words ......through crowds gathered in Iraq's two most sacred Shiite cities...elections. The bombings in Najaf and Karbala appeared designed...and Sunni regions in central Iraq, could extend their deadly...become all too familiar in Iraq: Streets were strewn with the...owner of the Ghufran Hotel in ...

Article: Cleric brokers peace; Iraq's top Shiite brings a tentative end to the fighting in Najaf
Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque);  August 27, 2004 ;     700+ words ...NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's top Shiite cleric...al-Sistani, made a dramatic return to Najaf on Thursday and swiftly won...influential cleric returned to Iraq after heart treatment in London...of followers who marched on Najaf and massed on its outskirts...

Article: Iraq warns Sadr that assault is imminentCleric gets ultimatum to give up arms and leave Najaf mosque
International Herald Tribune;  August 20, 2004 ;     700+ words ......powerful adversaries in Iraq, Sadr sent last-minute...fortress. But one of Iraq's ministers of state...news conference in Najaf on Thursday that...police station in Najaf on Thursday, killing...U.S.-invasion of Iraq 16 months ago. Faced...deadline of hours from Iraq's interim ...

Article: Soldiers Prepare for Block-by-Block Assault in Najaf, Iraq.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News;  March 31, 2003 ;     700+ words ......News Mar. 31--NEAR NAJAF, Iraq -- The 101st Airborne...surrounded the city of Najaf on Sunday and prepared...in the war with Iraq. But its deployment at Najaf indicates that...no other option. Najaf, nearly 2,000 years...Shiite cities of Iraq--known collectively...

Article: Leading Shiite to broker peace in Najaf: Revered cleric returns to Iraq, asks followers to reclaim strife- torn city
Charleston Daily Mail;  August 25, 2004 ;     401 words ...NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's most powerful...will arrive in beloved Iraq in a few hours and he...to the holy city of Najaf to rescue it from its...and Iraqi forces in Najaf tightened a cordon around...holiest Shia site in Iraq. Based in the city are...

Article: Salvadoran troops in Iraq to move from Najaf to "safer place"
Xinhua News Agency;  June 27, 2004 ;     204 words ...Salvadoran troops in Iraq to move from Najaf to "safer place...the Iraqi city of Najaf will be moved "to...could be sent to Iraq to replace the current...about 380 soldiers to Iraq to replace another...killed in combat in Iraq and 12 others were...led by Spain in Najaf, that ...

Article: Iraq's top cleric arrives in Najaf on peace mission as a mortar barrage kills 27 at mosque
Deseret News (Salt Lake City);  August 26, 2004 ;     700+ words ...NAJAF, Iraq -- Iraq's top Shiite cleric returned to Najaf on Thursday in hopes of using...people were killed in Kufa and Najaf during the past 24 hours, the...widely respected cleric among Iraq's Shiite majority. His intervention...

Article: Iraq's Shiite Hub Awaits Its Day; Najaf Prepares to Endorse Charter, but Rifts Are Apparent
The Washington Post;  October 13, 2005 ;     700+ words ......In August, one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite politicians came to Najaf to commemorate the...Council official in Najaf. Sadr's more populist...from Shiite slums in Iraq's largest cities...But it would divide Iraq along sectarian lines...late August, Sadr's Najaf office was set ...