Missile damages wall of Hazrat Ali shrine: US troops pound cemetry
NAJAF, Aug 23: The US forces in Iraq pounded Najaf's cemetery and historic centre near the Imam Ali Mosque on Monday, dimming hopes of a peaceful end to a nearly three-week stand off.
A hole one metre across was punched into the outer wall of the shrine compound after heavy gunfire on Sunday night, scattering debris across the marble floor. Shia leader Moqtada Sadr's supporters said it had been caused by a missile fired by a US helicopter, although the US military denied it had targeted the shrine.
In the evening the two sides exchanged heavy fire as planes hovered overhead. "Two rockets were fired from an American Apache. One hit the western wall of the shrine and the other a nearby hotel," said a spokesman for Moqtada Sadr.
The hotel is a known resting place for Mehdi Army commanders. A US military spokesman said: "The fire was not directed at the shrine. It did not hit the wall or any other holy site in the area."
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http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/24/top15.htm (Dawn is sometimes on shaky ground, of course--but this is exactly the sort of thing we wouldn't hear about, at least right away. Grain fo salt, and I'll go check al-J too).
Edit:
Much the same thing there (prob. source for Dawn):
US rockets damage Najaf shrine wall
Monday 23 August 2004, 17:26 Makka Time, 14:26 GMT
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Supporters of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said US aircraft had fired a rocket into the outer western wall of the mosque compound, news agency AFP reported.
The US military denied that the shrine had been targeted.
There was a dent in the wall measuring about 1 square metre and 30 centimetres deep, with rubble and spent parts of a rocket littered on the marble floor, an AFP correspondent said.
"It was around 11pm (1900 GMT) to 11.30 pm. Two rockets were fired from an American Apache. One hit the western wall of the shrine and the other a nearby hotel," said al-Sadr aide Shaikh Ali Husayn Ali.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DB51A68A-569C-4109-A700-87F398E3FA31.htm