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(回答先: ナジャフで激しい戦闘 聖廟周辺（共同通信） 投稿者 どん兵衛 日時 2004 年 8 月 19 日 23:16:31)
A building explodes during a U.S. aerial assault on Najaf
US Warplanes Rock Najaf, Sadr Defiant
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-08/19/article06.shtml
BAGHDAD, August 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) ? US warplanes attacked southern Najaf on Thursday, August 19, as Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr rejected a government ultimatum to publicly end fighting in the holy city.
American warplanes were seen flying over Najaf, where the Sadr loyalists are based in Imam Ali Shrine, probably attacking sites in the holy city.
Observers expressed the attack will cause a number of civilian casualties, as many residents failed to leave the residential area before the onslaught.
US tanks have taken up position just 200 meters (yards) away from Najaf's Imam Ali shrine, effectively trapping Sadr's men in one of the holiest sites to Shiite Muslims, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
This came after Sadr rejected demands by Minister of State Qassim Dawoud for the Shiite leader himself to sign an agreement refraining from any future clashes and disarm his militias or face an offensive by Iraqi forces within hours.
"Either martyrdom or victory," was Sadr's response, his aide Haidar Al-Tourfi was quoted by press reports as saying.
Sadr initially called on Iraqi government to send a delegation to Najaf to discuss the demands, but Dawoud ruled out any talks after the government response.
"The military action has become imminent," Dawoud told reporters. "If these conditions are not met, then the military solution will prevail."
More than two weeks of clashes between Sadr's Mehdi Army and US occupation forces and Iraqi government forces have reduced the historic Old City to rubble, with naked wires, spent mortar and rocket shells strewn across the deserted streets.
Also, eight people were killed, at least five of them policemen, and 30 wounded when mortar bombs smashed into Najaf, police and a doctor said, while gunfire and explosions echoed through the city.
Clashes
As intermittent bouts of heavy fighting petered out around the Old City, interior ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said Sadr's refusal to bow to government demands meant military action was on.
"Our position has been constant. Now we hear he's actually refused any attempt to remove himself and his fighters from the shrine... it looks as though the fight is on," he told AFP.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi also sent a strongly-worded message to Sadr, saying he is still prepared to accept a personal document from Sadr on a truce.
"We will categorically not allow armed militias. This is the final call to them to disarm, vacate the holy shrine and engage in political work," Allawi told a news conference.
Torching Oil Wells
Sadr reacted in defiance, with his followers threatening to torch oil fields and die as martyrs.
"After the declarations of the so-called Iraqi minister of state, in the name of his unjust government ... residents of southern Iraq, mainly in Basra and Amarah, have bombed several pipelines and are threatening to torch all the oil wells in the south," said Sheikh Aws al-Khafagi, head of the Sadr office in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Allawi admitted the attacks, saying they inflicted a loss of 160 million dollars’ worth on his government.
There was no official confirmation of Khafagi's statements. Previous threats to oil infrastructure in southern Iraq have caused production to be halted and pipelines shut down, sending world oil prices soaring.
In Sadr's northeastern Baghdad stronghold, two US soldiers were killed as occupation troops pushed into the slums of Sadr City on Wednesday in an offensive that one officer said killed "slightly over 50 Iraqis".
The Iraqi health ministry reported 22 people killed and 106 wounded across the capital in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, based on statistics from hospitals.
South of Baghdad, two Polish soldiers were killed and five hurt when their patrol came under fire at Hilla, where Mehdi Army fighters have also clashed with Iraqi security forces, the PAP news agency said, quoting the military.
Kidnappers claiming to be holding US-based journalist Micah Garen have threatened to execute their captive unless US forces withdraw from Najaf within 48 hours, Al-Jazeera reported late Wednesday.
A Turkish TV channel also aired footage of yet another Turk taken hostage in the country.
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