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Heavy fighting near Najaf shrine: 40 killed in Kufa

AFP, Najaf
Heavy shooting and mortar fire erupted near the Imam Ali shrine in the holy city of Najaf yesterday afternoon, as Shia Muslim militiamen clashed with US troops, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
Mehdi Army fighters, loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, launched multiple attacks on US tanks, parked around 300 metres away from the shrine.
US tanks fired back, as the reverberations of gunfire and mortar bombs could be heard from inside the mosque compound.
Overnight, US warplanes pounded the central holy city between 2:30 and 3:00 am local time causing three large
explosions near the Mehdi Army's mausoleum headquarters.
In the southern cities of Basra and Amara, clashes also flared between British-led multinational forces and the Mehdi Army overnight, with patrols and coalition bases coming under small arms and mortar fire, a spokeswoman said.
Reuters earlier said
US tanks advanced to within 800 meters of the shrine as fierce clashes with Shia rebels in a nearby town killed at least 40 Iraqis.
Talks to end a near three-week Shia Muslim uprising led by radical
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cleric Moqtada al-Sadr appeared to have stalled after negotiators failed to agree on how to surrender control of the Imam Ali shrine, where Mehdi militias remain holed up.
In Najaf, Mehdi militias fired mortars at US positions and the sound of gunfire crackled from near the shrine. US helicopter gunships clattered above the labyrinth of narrow streets not far from the gold-dome mosque.
Near Najaf, clashes between US troops and militias on Saturday killed 40 people in the town of Kufa, a Shia stronghold from where Sadr has led Friday prayers. Interior ministry officials said the dead were militiamen and civilians.
Earlier yesterday, a US military AC-130 gunship unleashed rapid cannon and howitzer fire on rebels in Najaf.
A Baquba report says, a suicide car bomb blew up near a convoy carrying local Iraqi officials north of Baghdad yesterday, killing two people and wounding eight.
The bomber appeared to have been targetting Ghasan al-Ghadren, the deputy mayor of the volatile town of Baquba. The official survived the attack, which took place not far from Baquba, the officer said.