] Fierce fighting erupted in the city of Najaf Thursday ] after a rebel Shi'ite cleric defied an Iraqi government ] threat to attack his stronghold in a holy shrine and ] rejected demands that he end his uprising. ] ] Thick black smoke poured into the sky from near the Imam ] Ali Mosque, soon after Moqtada al-Sadr spurned the ] ultimatum from interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. U.S. ] aircraft and tanks pounded the area around the shrine. That sucks... Al Sadr waffles.... |