Two Iraqi ministers meet with Seistani

Two Iraqi ministers met yesterday in Basra with the Shiite clergy Ali al-Seistani who is returning back from a medical treatment trip from London and discussed with him the crisis in Najaf.

Iraq minister of state without portfolio, Qasem Dawoud, and the minister of state for governorates affairs, Wael Abdul Latif, met with Seistani at the request of the Interim Iraqi prime minister Eyad Allawi.

The two ministers were accompanied by Hussein al-Sader, one of the relatives of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader who led the mediation delegation which was composed by the national congress and headed last week to Najaf.

Hussein al-Sader described the talks which were held at the residence of Seistani in Basra as positive, adding that Ayatullah al-Ozma will propose an initiative immediately after his arrival in Najaf expected today, Thursday.

Seistani said he has a plan to end the crisis in Najaf and he called on the Shiite to head for the city in order to rescue it from bloodshed and to dismantle its siege. Thousands of Iraqis headed for Najaf.

Aides for Seistani said he will disclose an initiative to end the crisis. In a statement read by one of his aides, Haidar al-Saffi, Seistani called on "all believers" to join Seistani in his trip to al-Najaf, saying " I have come for the sake of Najaf and I will stay in it until the crisis ends." Seistani urged the American forces which besiege Imam Ali mosque to withdraw.

Hamad Khaffaf, The director of al-Seistani office, said that the outlines of the Shiite clergy initiative state to " announce the two cities of Najaf and Koufa free from weapons and the deportation of all armed members from it." He added that this initiative states that the Iraqi police is to assume the responsibility for keeping security and order in the two cities.

Seistani's initiative also states that the Iraqi government is to compensate citizens for all damages inflected on their property as a result of the recent clashes. It demands the participation of all social, political and intellectual leaderships to create the appropriate atmospheres to carry out the general census and then the general elections through which full sovereignty can be restored back.