WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (AFP) - The United States moved Thursday to minimize the role it is playing in the interim Iraqi government's decision-making on dealing with Shiite Muslim rebels in the holy city of Najaf and said its troops had no plans to attack the holy shrine there.
The State Department insisted that Washington had only a limited advisory role in how Iraqi authorities choose to address the crisis which has deteriorated significantly after eight days of fierce fighting between rebels loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and US and Iraqi troops.
"The government of Iraq has very strong views about the importance of asserting its authority over the entire country, including in Najaf," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. "They are endeavoring to do that.
"We are, both as the United States and within the multinational force in Iraq, in close consultations with the government of Iraq as they move forward in this," he told reporters.
Ereli repeatedly refused to answer questions about military operations underway in Najaf -- which on Thursday included a raid on Sadr's empty home -- and declined to comment on what, if anything, the United States was advising Iraqi authorities to do.
"It's not about what the United States is going to do," he said. "It's about how the government of Iraq is handling challenges to its authority and how we ... are working with the government of Iraq in support of that."
"In our consultations we are doing what we can to support a resolution of this situation that is in line with what the long-term objectives of the government of Iraq are," Ereli said, refusing to offer any hint of what kind of resolution Washington might prefer.
"I'm not today going to tell you that this is the right approach or this is the wrong approach," he said, referring to the Iraqi government's decision to defeat militarily Sadr's Mehdi Army or force their surrender.
In Najaf, thousands of US forces, backed by Iraqi police and national guard, mounted a pincer movement to trap Sadr's fighters in the heart of the city, where many are holed up in the Imam Ali shrine, revered by Shiites all over the world.
The militia, still in control of the area around the shrine, vowed to fight until the bitter end while Iraqi officials in Baghdad demanded the militiamen leave the shrine.
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem al-Shalan pledged US forces would not be allowed to enter the sacred mausoleum and, in Washington, Ereli said the United States had no plans to attack Muslim sites.
"We're not going after Muslim sites," he said. "That's not the way we do business."
Later, a senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the US military had "standing orders" not to attack any Muslim holy site, including the shrine in Najaf.