The Guardian
April 16, 2004
By Julian Borger in Washington, Justin McCurry in Tokyo, and agencies

Iraq's most powerful Shia spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned the United States against entering the holy city of Najaf in pursuit of his militant rival, Moqtada al-Sadr, it was reported yesterday.

A senior Shia source told Reuters that Ayatollah Sistani had declared Najaf a "red line".

The warning came as 2,500 US troops gathered around the central Iraqi city in pursuit of Mr Sadr and his Mahdi militia. It is significant because that US incursions into the holy city would unite Shia factions, and possibly spark a broader uprising among Iraq's majority population.

The sensitivity of the situation appeared to have been taken on board by the US military and General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said talks were under way to try to avoid a bloodbath in Najaf.

General Myers, on a visit to Baghdad, said the US admin istrator Paul Bremer was using "multiple channels" in the negotiations to resolve the situation both there and in Falluja, where more than 700 Iraqis have died.

The stand-off around Najaf came during a day of violence in Iraq, alleviated only by the release of three Japanese hostages who had been threatened with being burned alive by their captors.

Only hours earlier, Italian security guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi was shown to have been executed by hostage takers. Film of the execution was sent to the Qatar-based television station al-Jazeera.

In Baghdad, an Iranian diplomat was assassinated only a day after Tehran revealed the US had asked for its help in defusing violence in Shia areas. Khalil Naimi, first deputy at the embassy in Baghdad, was shot dead near the Iranian embassy in the Salhiya neighbourhood.

In the face of a rapidly deteriorating situation, the defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that over 20,000 US troops would have to stay in Iraq three months longer than expected, breaking an earlier pledge that combat tours would not last over a year. The decision kept the US troop level in Iraq at 135,000. It had been due to drop to 115,000.

The announcement came as the coalition struggled to resolve the international hostage crisis. The release unharmed of the three Japanese hostages brought to an end a week of anguish for their families and relieved the pressure on the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi.

Joy at their release was tempered by unconfirmed reports that two more Japanese were kidnapped in Iraq yesterday. The Japanese media named the hostages as Jumpei Yasuda, a freelance journalist, and Nobutaka Watanabe, a former Japanese soldier now working for an anti-war group.

The families were addressing a press conference in Tokyo when news came through of the release. Moments later they hugged and jumped for joy as al-Jazeera footage showed the former captives meeting Sunni cleric Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi. Takashi Imai, father of 18-year-old Noriaki Imai, who had been collecting material for a picture book on Iraqi children harmed by depleted uranium shells, fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands when his son appeared on television.

"Until I saw her on television, I couldn't believe it was true," said Ayako Inoue, whose sister, Nahoko Takato, had been working with Iraqi street children.

In a call from the embassy in Baghdad, the third hostage, freelance photographer Soichiro Koriyama, told his mother he wanted to stay on in Iraq to take photographs "as an expression of my gratitude", Kyodo news agency reported.

Mr Koizumi refused to bow to the captors' "despicable" demands, despite pleas from the hostages' families and daily demonstrations in Tokyo.

The first of three Russian planes sent to evacuate 365 citizens of ex-Soviet states left Baghdad yesterday following the kidnapping and release of three Russians and five Ukrainians in Baghdad earlier this week.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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