by Sammy Ketz
NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 20 (AFP) - Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr`s militiamen roared with laughter Friday at government claims police had occupied their stronghold in Najaf`s holy shrine.
"They are liars," one militiaman told AFP as he reclined on carpets in the Imam Ali mosque compound sipping drinks with comrades.
"We`re ready to give up the shrine, but never to police."
Not a single Iraqi policeman could be seen anywhere around the compound, one of Shiite Islam`s holiest shrines, after officials in Baghdad claimed police were inside complex Friday.
At 5:30 pm (1330 GMT), the huge doors to the mausoleum were locked, in a sign of the militia`s readiness to return control of the mosque to Iraq`s highest Shiite authority, militiaman Abu Mustafa, told AFP.
Relaxing in its vast central courtyard under marble mosaics were some 1,000 men. Hundreds of "human shields" who flocked to Najaf to protest against the US-led military action were sprawled idly on mats.
Some of them sponged down marble paving stones, others ate. One old man fed titbits to the pigeons. Outside the compound walls, dozens of others rested in the shade of the late afternoon. Very few were women and children.
But after a 16-day showdown between Sadr`s Mehdi Army and US-led Iraqi forces, a Baghdad government spokesman said police had arrested some 400 militiamen at the shrine.
"Iraqi police entered the shrine in Najaf city and all armed militia were evicted," said the spokesman, asking not to be named.
"About 400 people were arrested, but the Iraqi police could not get hold of Moqtada Sadr."
On CNN, interior ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said 500 militiamen "in poor condition" were prepared to surrender and "were escorted from the shrine".
Back at the shrine, irrepressible spokesman Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani said Sadr`s decision to relinquish control of the shrine -- his military headquarters since his April uprising -- had slighted the government.
"Handing the shrine over to the Shiite religious hierarchy is a challenge to the government, because handing it to police would mean handing it over to the occupiers," he told AFP.
Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani`s agreement dealt a hard blow to the government, he said, adding that only US troops had attacked Najaf and alleged that Iraqi soldiers had deserted.
"We will leave the shrine when the committee, designated by Sistani, takes it over... we`re ready," he said.
By dusk, only sporadic gunfire echoed around the city.
A doctor at the shrine`s clinic said four civilians and one fighter were wounded during clashes Friday, but reported no casualties after intense US bombardments overnight that the health ministry said killed dozens.
In Baghdad, a media trip arranged by US officials for a key handover ceremony between Sadr`s followers and representatives of Sistani was mysteriously cancelled after journalists were kept holed up in the government compound for hours.
"We can`t find a spare helicopter," one official told AFP.
A top government official continued to maintain that Iraqi police were inside the shrine late Friday. He suggested that the ceremony was perhaps postponed due to security concerns.
He refused to confirm whether or not it had been cancelled.
The aborted press trip was announced shortly after Shaibani said the Mehdi Army was to leave the shrine after handing over the keys under an agreement with Sistani.
An official from Sistani`s office confirmed the meeting had taken place, but refused to comment further.
Sistani himself is currently in London recovering from a heart operation.