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thedrifter
05-01-04, 06:32 AM
04-29-2004

For the Record: Inside Najaf



Compiled by DefenseWatch Staff



Editor’s Note: The following description of Najaf, Iraq, is reportedly the first eyewitness account of life in the city since it was surrounded by U.S. troops. The document was obtained by NavySEALs.com and posted on its website. Reposted with permission.



Please find attached updates from Najaf, provided by one of the NGOs and combined with information provided by the HACC in Hilla.



Update on situation in Najaf, 25 April 2004 -- UN INTERNAL


Source: HACC MNB (Center-South):



* Karbala and Najaf are open and flow of all supplies continued unimpeded,



* Medical supplies are needed in both cities due to number of wounded in result of recent fighting,



* Shops, schools and local administration offices re-opened in Najaf.



Update on situation in Najaf, 22 April 2004 -- UN INTERNAL


Source: NGO



* Red Crescent office is apparently located on the road from Najaf to Karbala, which can serve as source of information on which direction people would evacuate if they had to flee the city.



* There are about 900,000 residents in Najaf. The twin cities of Najaf and Al-Kufa, eight kilometers away, have a combined population of up to one-and-a-half million.



* There are checkpoints manned by both the al-Bedr militia and the Mehdi Army who seem to work together. There’s no obvious aggression but they search everything very thoroughly.



* Around [radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada] al-Sadr’s office there is heavy militia presence but the bazaar seems its normal bustling self.



* There are many hotels in Najaf usually full of pilgrims and overseas visitors. These are completely empty now so the town's economy must be going down dramatically. There are signs of normal life deteriorating, eg rubbish piled everywhere, stray mangy dogs running around etc. But there's full electricity, even the street lighting is on most of the night. Traffic is chaotic, few traffic police in uniform and everyone ignoring red lights etc.



* The city is tense and expectant - everyone knows the US troops are outside - but daily life goes on. There's no begging in the streets at all and very little sporadic gunfire. This is extremely conservative place with all women dressed in black from head to foot. A lot of holy men around all the time.



* Last weekend the Mehdi Army [militia formed by al-Sadr] was very excitable having captured an American humvee outside the city, then bringing it in for a victory tour, then burning it in the mosque. There's a catchy CD chanting about Muqtada which blared out all last Saturday. But since the pilgrimage ended all is quiet.



* Pilgrimages: Peaceful marching into town with rest stops all the way at the roadside with food and water, and a shelter to sleep in. Well over a million, possibly two, came into the city, many barefoot, and walked out again over the subsequent two days and nights. Very peaceful, very impressive.



* Najaf must be the only city in Iraq with no US military presence at all, quite eerie. Everyone is watching the Spanish troops at the hospital, hoping to see them leave soon though God knows how they'll do that. They are reported to be hiding behind sandbags and not conducting patrols.



* People here believe the Americans will eventually come in to get al-Sadr.



* There's a movement by [senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali] Sistani’s people to persuade him to leave for the security of the city and the holy sites but he refuses. Some believe he will actually hide in the Tomb of Ali monument if the Americans come to get him.



* At present some moderates from the [Iranian] al-Da’war Party are negotiating on

al-Sadr's behalf but the conditions change every day.


http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=462&rnd=713.5717663321251


Ellie