ANKARA, Aug 17 (AFP) - Iraqi President Ghazi Al-Yawar urged Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr and his militia to lay down their arms and join the political process in post-war Iraq, warning that Baghdad would not tolerate the rebels.
"We still call on these people to stop this nonsense and join the political process," Yawar told reporters here at the end of a two-day visit to Turkey.
He was speaking shortly after heavy fighting broke out near the shrine of Imam Ali in the heart of the historic center of Najaf, where Shiite militiamen have been locked in a dayslong stand off with US-led Iraqi forces.
Yawar, speaking in English, said the Baghdad government was "very keen to save any drop of human blood," but warned that it would not bow down to the insurgents.
"Definitely we cannot leave the law in people`s hands according to their wishes," the Iraqi leader said.
The police chief of Najaf has threatened to storm the shrine if the militiamen refuse to disarm and leave the mausoleum.
Dozens of delegates from a key national conference in Baghdad were due to arrive in Najaf on Tuesday to meet Sadr and urge him to put down his weapons and leave the Imam Ali, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.