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Najaf - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb of Alī ibn Abī Tālib (also known as "Imām Alī"), whom the Shia consider to be the righteous caliph and first imām; however, some believe he is buried at Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan. The Najaf area was situated near the Sassanid city of Suristan and at the time of the Sassanids was a part of the Middle Bih-Kavad province of Persia. The Najaf cemetery, the largest cemetery in the world, became a battle ground in May 2004 as M1A1 tanks from 2-37 AR fought Mahdi Army elements on the outskirts of the cemetery. en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Najaf   (1320 words)

Najaf Najaf is known for being an Islamic center for scientific, literary and theological studies for the whole Islamic world and mainly for the Shiites, therefore Najaf is attractive for a large number of people, poets, authors and other visitors from China/India, Lebanon, Pakistan and Iran which is estimated annually over half a million. Najaf in arabic means a high land where water cannot be reached. Najaf is a city of low-level sprawl, with boulevards lined by trees, arched brick buildings, and streets filled with bearded clerics wearing white or fl turbans. www.globalsecurity.org /military/world/iraq/najaf.htm   (2321 words)

Najaf Governorate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Najaf province (Arabic: النجف‎, An-Najaf), is a province in the nation of Iraq. The province has an area of 28,824 km². In 2003 it had an estimated population of 931,600 people. en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Najaf_province   (143 words)

Embattled City Now 'Success Story' (washingtonpost.com) Najaf is a place where Americans appear welcome and the people eager to vote Sunday -- all in a city that had seemed on the verge of unraveling the U.S. effort in Iraq. Najaf, the spiritual center of the Shiite world and the burial place of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, is seen as a likely target for bombs. Najaf officials have flooded the area with 15,000 police officers and soldiers and have locked down the city with curfews and driving restrictions. www.washingtonpost.com /wp-dyn/articles/A47596-2005Jan29.html   (802 words)

US atrocity in Najaf The looming massacre underscores an irrefutable political fact: the entire charade of installing a “sovereign” interim government was a smokescreen behind which Washington prepared a bloodbath against the Iraqi resistance. Fearing the retribution of the masses, the Najaf province deputy governor and 16 of the 30 members of the US-vetted Najaf provincial council have resigned in protest. An estimated 1,000 British-recruited police and paramilitary troops in Basra have declared their allegiance to Maliky and hailed his threats to join forces with Sadr. www.wsws.org /articles/2004/aug2004/naja-a13.shtml   (1795 words)

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Najaf embraces stability in wake of U.S. offensive NAJAF, Iraq — More than a month after a U.S.-led offensive against the militia of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the historic core of this holy city remains a sealed-off zone of devastation and rubble. The Shiite guerrillas were unpopular with large segments of Najaf's generally conservative, business-oriented populace, which relies on a religious tourist trade that evaporated with the fighting. Throughout Najaf, schools, clinics and other facilities are being refurbished as part of the U.S.-funded rehabilitation plan, which includes extensive repairs to roads, sewers and water infrastructure. seattletimes.nwsource.com /html/nationworld/2002057264_najaf08.html   (895 words)

washingtonpost.com: U.S. Forces Attack Iraqi Holy City   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30) But Najaf residents, many of whom blame Sadr's militia for ruining the city's economy, said the dome was hit in the confusion of combat. Najaf's primary industry is catering to Iranian Shiite pilgrims, a trade that blossomed after Hussein's ouster but has dwindled to nothing with the violence. And Ahmed Ali, assistant director of Najaf's Hakim Hospital, said that "the number of killed could increase because we have some critically wounded people." Not all the dead reach hospitals, Najaf residents said; some are immediately buried by their comrades. www.washingtonpost.com /ac2/wp-dyn/A26296-2004May14?language=printer   (1417 words)

USATODAY.com - At last, smiles greet U.S. troops as they enter holy city in Iraq   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30) Najaf is a city where the Shiite population has been persecuted by Saddam's regime, so U.S. Army soldiers paused to pay deference to religious leaders here and to make clear their intention to safeguard a mosque and holy shrine revered by Shiites worldwide. Najaf, whose name in Arabic means "a high land," is the burial place of Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law and the Shiites' most revered saint. The fighting was an effort to put an end to suicide attacks and guerrilla assaults on U.S. supply lines stretching from southern Iraq to the advancing columns of the 3rd Infantry Division near Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. www.usatoday.com /news/world/iraq/2003-04-02-najaf-cover_x.htm   (1362 words)

Iraq: Najaf, Renewed - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30) Najaf and the Shiites suffered under Saddam Hussein and his secular Baath Party—but the U.S. occupation has triggered a revival in the city, and its clerics have since led the Shiite majority's bid for power in Iraq. Najaf, in Arabic, means "dry land," and that is an apt description for a place that lacked a dependable water supply throughout its premodern history. Before the rise of the modern state in the 20th century, Najaf was the preferred seat of the most-learned Shiite clerics, who issued rulings on religious worship and everyday conduct to their followers around the world. msnbc.msn.com /id/4340886   (2199 words)

TomDispatch - Tomgram: Schwartz on Americans rolling the dice in Najaf The assault on the holy city of Najaf, with its attendant slaughter of combatants and civilians, its destruction of whole neighborhoods, and its threat to Shia holy cites is fraught with the possibility of another major military defeat. A rapid and thorough defeat of the insurgents, followed by an uncontested occupation of the entire city, was undoubtedly expected, especially since the lightly armed al-Mahdi soldiers had previously proved a relatively uncoordinated fighting force. An editor in publishing for the last 25 years, Tom is the author of The End of Victory Culture, a history of American triumphalism in the Cold War era. www.tomdispatch.com /index.mhtml?pid=1677   (3860 words)

CNN.com - U.S. forces raid al-Sadr home in Najaf - Aug 12, 2004 Sheikh Salah al-Ubeidi, an al-Sadr spokesman in Baghdad, on Thursday said al-Sadr "is inside Najaf" and is refusing to leave. An Iraqi Health Ministry official said 75 Mehdi Army members were killed and another 148 were wounded in battles over the previous two days. A British soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near a passing patrol in the southeast city of Basra, a British military spokesman told CNN. www.cnn.com /2004/WORLD/meast/08/12/iraq.main/index.html   (1100 words)

CNN.com - Najaf bombing kills Shiite leader, followers say - Aug. 30, 2003 Safa al Hamidi, director of the Najaf Teaching Hospital, said many of the dead were burned beyond recognition. Aides to the ayatollah came to the Najaf Teaching Hospital to search for his body, Hamidi said, but were unable to identify it. Najaf, about 100 miles [160 kilometers] south of Baghdad, is Shiite Islam's holiest city, and the Imam Ali Mosque is one of the Shiites' most-holy sites. www.cnn.com /2003/WORLD/meast/08/29/sprj.irq.najaf/index.html   (990 words)

Peaceful, joyful, day of voting in Najaf North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County News - ...   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30) An Iraqi man smokes a cigarette in the early morning chill as he and other Iraqis wait in line for the final day of solatia payments by U.S. Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Force in Najaf, Iraq on Monday, January 24, 2005. NAJAF ---- Hailing the day as a "new birth" in Iraq, residents of the Shiite holy city of Najaf filled polling places across town Sunday to vote in the national and provincial elections that will probably hand Shiites the majority in Iraq's first democratically elected legislature. Jebreen, who is now Najaf's top contracting official who channels U.S. reconstruction funding into local projects, said he and others in the exiled community helped finance and plan the resistance against Saddam Hussein from their adopted homes, always hoping to return to a free Iraq. www.nctimes.com /articles/2005/01/31/military/iraq/13005192233.txt   (1524 words)

[No title] According to Maruan Hussein, a senior official in the Najaf governorate, the withdrawal of foreign forces has both averted the emergence of insurgency in Najaf and allowed more funding to be invested in rebuilding. "Najaf shows a degree of revitalisation never seen before," said Bassam Darwish, a local shopkeeper whose shop, destroyed during the fighting in 2004, was rebuilt by the US military. Given Najaf's newfound reputation for security, investors are reportedly queuing up to take advantage of the city's historical tourism potential. www.iraqdirectory.com /DisplayNews.aspx?id=807   (818 words)

CNN.com - Aide: Al-Sadr ready to negotiate in Najaf - Aug 24, 2004 NAJAF, Iraq (CNN) -- Shortly after Iraq's interim government threatened Muqtada al-Sadr's militiamen to leave a Najaf mosque, an al-Sadr aide said Tuesday that the cleric is ready to negotiate a cease-fire and end the standoff. Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison was "an environment of criminality and violations" of international law and Army regulations before the military police officers charged in the prisoner abuse scandal arrived there, an attorney for one of the MPs said Tuesday at hearings in Germany. An attack on a Red Crescent convoy Tuesday carrying aid to Najaf wounded four workers, and two of the injured are in critical condition, Iraqi police and the Health Ministry said. edition.cnn.com /2004/WORLD/meast/08/24/iraq.main/index.html   (934 words)

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | US forces pound Najaf militants Artillery and tank fire was reported on Tuesday around Najaf's vast cemetery and close to the Imam Ali shrine. One of Najaf's leading figures, Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani, in London for heart treatment, urged an end to the uprising, which he said gave US forces an excuse to intervene. Najaf was plunged back into violence last Thursday when a previous ceasefire between foreign forces and the Shia militia collapsed after six weeks. news.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/world/middle_east/3550668.stm   (454 words)

History of the Shrine at Najaf Those who have visited Najaf will remember vividly that to the north and east of the town there are acres of graves and myriads of domes of various colours and at various stages of disrepair. At first there was a mountain there, and when one of the sons of Noah refused to enter the Ark, he said that he would sit on this mountain until he would see where the water would come. The Shrine of Ali at Najaf from "The shi'ite Religion" by Dwight M. Donaldson. www.al-islam.org /shrines/najaf.htm   (612 words)

BBC NEWS | Magazine | From the people who brought you Milton Keynes... Najaf, the scene of two suicide bombs a couple of years ago which killed dozens of people and injured many more. Najaf, the arena for a full-scale American military assault to oust a radical Muslim cleric, back in 2004. Najaf escaped major damage in the 2003 invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, but it took a battering during a three-week assault by American troops in 2004. news.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/magazine/4725742.stm   (1397 words)

Why is Najaf so holy? By Brendan I. Koerner - Slate Magazine American troops are engaged in fierce combat with insurgents near Najaf, one of Iraq's holy cities. An extremist sect known as the Kharijites, which advocated death for moderate Muslims, orchestrated Ali's assassination in 661. Najaf's founding as a city dates back to 791, when the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid supposedly passed through during a hunt. www.slate.com /id/2099573   (948 words)

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Violence spreads in Iraq In Najaf the young cleric defied a five-day onslaught by the US military to appear in public for the first time since launching his latest uprising. Mr Sadr's presence in the Najaf shrine yesterday and the position of hundreds of his fighters throughout the old city suggested he remains in a stronger position than the US military has so far admitted. Ghalib al-Jazairy, Najaf's police chief, admitted several of the captives were policemen from stations in Basra and Amara, who had joined the militia. www.guardian.co.uk /Iraq/Story/0,2763,1279856,00.html   (1224 words)

Najaf Mosque - Satellite Imagery NIMA CIB imagery overview of the city of Najaf The cemetery forms the northern border for the old city center of Najaf. The shrine was damaged during the Shiia uprising of 1991 and was closed for reconstruction for the following two years. www.globalsecurity.org /military/world/iraq/an-najaf-imagery.htm   (260 words)

Coalition Halts Military Operations NAJAF, Iraq - The U.S. led coalition agreed Thursday to suspend offensive military operations in Najaf after Shiite leaders struck a deal with a radical cleric to end fighting that killed more than 350 Iraqis and 21 coalition troops. Meanwhile in Najaf for the first time in weeks, the day passed in this southern Iraqi city without the thud of explosions or the crash of automatic weapons fire. The Najaf agreement was struck early Thursday between al-Sadr and the Shiite political and religious leadership after nearly two months of clashes around this center of Shiite learning and theology. military.com /NewsContent/0,13319,FL_halts_052804,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl   (1173 words)

Phillip Robertson story from Salon.com It was confusing to me that this peace deal was given an enormous amount of press when you could consistently hear explosions near the roof and the walls of the shrine. Shortly before we arrived in the area on Monday, there was an order banning journalists from being inside the exclusion zone inside Najaf, and all of the journalists were evicted from the Sea of Najaf Hotel by the Iraqi police. we heard two announcements over the mosque loudspeakers, an emergency mobilization order sending all fighters to their fighting positions -- this was after the news of the potential truce had been announced. www.mothers-milk.org /IraqUncensored/philstory1.htm   (1527 words)

Najaf City of central Iraq with about 560,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate), lying on the western ridge of the Euphrates River. Najaf is the capital of the Najaf governorate with about 900,000 inhabitants (2003 estimate; 590,000 in the 1987 census). Najaf's main reason for fame, is the shrine of Ali, 4th Caliph of Islam and 1st Imam of Shi'i Islam. i-cias.com /e.o/najaf.htm   (348 words)

Marines prepare holy city, quiet for now, for election North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside ... NAJAF ---- Wrapping their faces in fleece scarves and rubbing numbed hands together against the predawn freeze, a convoy of U.S. Marines and soldiers rolled into the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, early Thursday to finish reinforcing polling places before the nationwide election just 10 days away. Before the fall of Saddam, Najaf was a poor, independent city usually neglected and often oppressed by the Sunni-dominated Baath regime. Free of Saddam and the Baathists, Najaf is experiencing a recent boom, with new trade and rapid reconstruction by the Marines, who have spent more than $20 million there to reconstruct buildings and compensate families after the intense and bloody fighting there in August. www.nctimes.com /articles/2005/01/21/military/iraq/23_44_011_20_05.txt   (1374 words)

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Surge of attacks claims US life in Shia city An American soldier has been killed in Najaf, one of the holiest cities for Shia Muslims, the US authorities said yesterday. In a week that has seen a big rise in action against coalition troops, the Najaf killing is particularly ominous because it took place in a Shia area. Other US soldiers were wounded yesterday when a truck carrying them to Baghdad to phone their families hit an explosive device. www.guardian.co.uk /Iraq/Story/0,2763,986796,00.html   (735 words)

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