Iraq's National Security advisor in Najaf on peace mission

NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 12 (AFP) - Iraq`s National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rubaie was in Najaf on Thursday to meet with radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, one of his aides said, amid a local initiative to stop the US-led assault on the holy city.
But it was unclear if Rubaie actually met with Sadr, whose empty home in the central Iraqi city was raided by US troops.
Rubaie held meetings with local officials at the provincial government building in a bid to stem the violence.
Najaf`s governor Adnan al-Zorfi refused to provide details of the talks, which are believed to have included Hussein al-Shahrastani, an envoy of revered Shiite Muslim spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who is in London for medical treatment.
Earlier Sheikh Fayed al-Shamari, head of Najaf`s provincial council, said he was working on an initiative to end the fighting.
"We are moving fast now to contain the crisis and end the bloodshed," he said without elaborating. "We hope to find a solution soon."
Zorfi confirmed the initiative and said the council was awaiting the response of Sadr`s office but stressed the cleric`s Mehdi Army militia must leave the holy city without preconditions.
"We do not negotiate with militia and we have no intention of negotiating with them," said Zorfi. "The situation is becoming unbearable, the militia must leave now."
But the immediate prospects for an end to the US assault looked bleak as the Sadr camp issued its own call for US troops to retreat from Najaf before any negotiations would take place.
"The Americans must leave first, then we would be open to negotiations," Sheikh Ali al-Sumeisim told an AFP reporter from outside the Imam Ali mausoleum in central Najaf.
The US military along with Iraqi government forces sealed off Thursday all approaches to the city centre, as US warplanes pounded militia positions in outlying areas, mainly around the huge adjacent cemetery.
But the militia late Thursday remained in control of a radius of around two kilometers (one mile) around the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.