Oops, now it's war again.NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. marines and a radical Iraqi cleric are locked in a tense standoff after the firebrand leader refused to leave a holy shrine in Najaf despite earlier agreeing to disarm his militia and withdraw.
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"I don't think we can trust al-Sadr. I think we have to see action, not just words," National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told Fox News on hearing of the deal.
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In Baghdad, witnesses said a U.S. helicopter attacked positions soon after dawn in a poor Shi'ite Muslim suburb that is a Sadr powerbase. A large explosion in the area sent plumes of black smoke into the air, though the cause was unclear.
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Iraq's Defence Ministry ordered them to lay down their weapons and leave their sanctuary in the country's holiest Shi'ite shrine immediately. They would then be granted an amnesty, the ministry said.
ReutersUK