(15 Aug 2004)
1. Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraqi National Security Advisor at podium
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraqi National Security Advisor:
"It's one of the saddest days today. It is sad because I have to announce the failure of the efforts of the Iraqi interim government to solve the Najaf crisis peacefully. The Iraqi interim government has exhausted all efforts and left no stone unturned to explore the possibility of solving this problem in a peaceful way. The Iraqi interim government is going to resume clearing operations to return the city of Najaf to normal city functions. It is the absolute duty of this government to install law and order in Iraq and we will do whatever is required to install law and order in Najaf and the other cities in Iraq as well."
3. Al-Rubaie leaves presser
STORYLINE:
Negotiations to end the fighting in Najaf broke down on Sunday, threatening to spark a resurgence of the fierce clashes between Shiite militants and a combined US-Iraqi force that have plagued the holy city for more than a week.
The chief government negotiator, Sheik Ali Smeisim, said he decided to quit the talks after three fruitless days, but representatives of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said a deal had been all but reached before interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi personally intervened to quash it.
Just hours after Najaf's governor said he believed a breakthrough was imminent, Iraq's National Security Adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie announced the talks were over.
During the negotiations, al-Sadr demanded a US withdrawal from Najaf, the freeing of all Mahdi Army fighters in detention and amnesty for all the fighters in exchange for disarming his followers and pulling them out of the shrine and Najaf's old city, where they have taken refuge, aides said.
The fighting has angered many in Iraq's Shiite majority, and the collapse of negotiations would likely cast a pall over the country's National Conference, which starts on Sunday and is considered a vital first step toward establishing democracy in Iraq.
Earlier on Saturday, about 10,000 demonstrators from as far away as Baghdad arrived in Najaf to show their solidarity with the militants and act as human shields to protect the city and the holy Imam Ali shrine, where the militants have taken refuge.
Coalition officials reiterated on Saturday they would not enter the shrine.
Qais al-Khazali, al-Sadr's spokesman in Najaf, said a deal had been reached and al-Sadr - who was not in the talks himself - had signed it when "we were surprised that they got instructions from Dr. Allawi to leave".
Ahmed al-Shaibany, another al-Sadr spokesman, blamed the failure of the talks on the Americans - who were not participating - saying they had refused a demand to pay compensation for the families of those killed in the fighting.
The US military estimates hundreds of insurgents have been killed since the clashes broke out on August 5, but the militants dispute the figure.
Six Americans have been killed, along with about 20 Iraqi officers, it said.
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