Iraq national conference begins as fighting resumes in Najaf

by Sam Dagher
BAGHDAD, Aug 15 (AFP) - A national conference, an experiment in post-Saddam Hussein democracy, opened here Sunday, as fighting resumed in the holy city of Najaf after the breakdown of peace talks between the government and rebel Shiite militia.
"We are laying the first building blocks for our country`s march towards democracy and ridding ourselves of the 35-year legacy of the previous regime," said chief organiser Fuad Maasum.
But blocked roads, concrete barricades, tanks and sniffer dogs greeted the participants arriving at the convention centre inside the fortified Green Zone which houses the seat of the interim government and the US embassy.
Two main roads leading to the venue were blocked with police cars. US helicopters criss-crossed the skies of Baghdad from the early hours and the Al-Jumhuriya (republic) bridge spanning the Tigris river was shut.
An 8:00 am (0400 GMT) to 4:00 pm (1200 GMT) curfew has been slapped on the adjacent old Karkh and Sheikh Marouf neighbourhoods, known trouble spots of recent clashes between US-backed police and insurgents.
Just minutes after the conference opened, at least five explosions rang out across the capital.
The conference will first hold working sessions to discuss the transition process, human rights, reconstruction and the issue of justice for those who suffered under Saddam`s former dictatorship.
On the last day, delegates will select 81 members of a national council to advise the interim government as it paves the way for national elections in January 2005.
The other 19 seats have already been allocated to members of the defunct interim Governing Council that served between Saddam`s fall and the creation of the caretaker government in early June.
Both radical Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr and the influential Sunni Committee of Muslim Scholars have announced their decision to boycott the event, dismissing it as unrepresentative of the true will of Iraqis.
Shortly after the conference opened an AFP correspondent in Najaf heard tank fire and saw smoke rising from the vast cemetery held by Sadr`s Mehdi Army militia along with the sacred Imam Ali shrine area.
Earlier Sunday, the local police chief ordered journalists to leave the city as a the militia vowed to face a renewed US-led onslaught against their positions.
"I received orders from the interior minister who demands that all local, Arab and foreign journalists leave the hotel and city within two hours," General Ghaleb al-Jazairi told reporters at 10:00 am.
"We have information that there is a 250 kilo (500-pound) car bomb targeting them," the fiery police chief added.
"We are waiting for the fighting to resume and we are ready for that," said Sadr spokesman Ali Smeisim.
Shortly after the talks broke down, "the Americans took up position in the cemetery and at the entrance to the old city and they are preparing for a very big attack to kill the residents of Najaf," he charged.
Smeisim blamed the failure of the talks, after more than a week of heavy fighting, on Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
The premier telephoned national security advisor Muwafaq al-Rubaie just minutes before he was to sign a peace agreement that Sadr had already signed, Smeisim said.
"Rubaie would have signed the agreement because we agreed on all the points... but unfortunately Rubaie suddenly had a phone call from Allawi that ordered him to withdraw and finish everything," he said.
Sadr has insisted that the US-led forces withdraw and responsibility for Najaf be handed over to the Shiite religious leadership.
"The Iraqi government will be responsible for the coming massacre in Najaf. Tanks and convoys are preparing to attack the city in the coming hours," said fellow Sadr spokesman, Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, on Saturday.
Further south, a 29-year-old Dutch soldier was killed and five wounded in clashes between multinational forces and insurgents, the Dutch defence ministry said.
The ministry said a Dutch army vehicle near Ar Rumaythah close to the Dutch base in As Samawah had come under attack.
This is only the second time a Dutch soldier has died in Iraq. The Netherlands has some 1,300 troops stationed in southern Iraq under British command.
Meanwhile, an armed Iraqi group threatened to "punish" an Iranian diplomat missing since August 4 unless Iran releases within 48 hours 500 prisoners still said to be held since its 1980-88 war with Iraq, state television said.
Iran`s Al-Alam said the threat came from the Islamic Army in Iraq, which claimed a week ago to be holding Fereydun Jahani but had made no demands.
The group, which had accused Iran of interfering in Iraqi affairs, is believed to have already executed two Pakistanis for "collaboration" with the US-led occupation forces in Iraq.