NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 24 (AFP) - Iraqi national guardsmen are ready to "cleanse" Najaf`s holy Imam Ali shrine of Shiite Muslim militiamen "very soon" unless they leave of their own accord, the city`s governor Adnan al-Zorfi said Tuesday.
"We are going to cleanse the city and the shrine from the militia if they do not leave soon on their own. The Iraqi national guard will move them out of the area and the shrine," Zorfi told AFP.
Earlier Tuesday, the 20th day of fighting in Najaf, heavy machine-gun and tank fire pummelled the Old City in the streets around the Imam Ali, one of the holiest Shiite Muslim mosques in the world.
Humvees and US tanks crawled through the bombed-out streets, just 200 metres (yards) away, as dozens of Iraqi national guardsmen were deployed in the area for the first time.
"The Iraqi national guard are 300 metres (yards) outside the shrine. We are ready and waiting for the go ahead from Baghdad," Zorfi said, refusing to say when the assault would happen, only that it will be "very soon".
"No American troops will be allowed to get in. It will be entirely an Iraqi forces operation," the governor insisted.
Defence Minister Hazem al-Shaalan is in Najaf, an aide at his office said.
"They`re accelerating the rate of the attack," an interior ministry spokesman said earlier, when asked about the Iraqi deployment in Najaf.
Iraqi government officials have frequently warned that a "final" assault on Sadr`s Mehdi Army was imminent, insisting that Iraqi troops, not US soldiers will be used to evict militiamen from the shrine itself, if necessary.
"If we have to, this is our job and that`s what the religious authorities want," the spokesman added.
The spokesman side-stepped questions on whether the assault signalled an impatience over waiting for the Mehdi Army to finalise a deal with Iraq`s top Shiite cleric on handing over control of the shrine, announced Friday.
"I don`t think you can call it impatience. Many people have accused us of holding back too long," he said, insisting there was still time for the Mehdi Army to comply with government demands to surrender.
Meanwhile, the US military accused militiamen of firing a rocket from the northeast corner of the mosque that may have damaged the shrine.
"The rocket clipped the wall of the shrine and landed approximately 10 metres (yards) north of the wall. The shrine may have sustained damage due to the rocket," said a statement.
A hole one metre (more than three feet) across was punched into the outer wall of the shrine compound late Sunday during fighting.
Serious damage to the mausoleum could inflame religious sensibilities, as aides of Sadr have admitted that steps to give up the keys to the shrine to representatives of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have stalled.
Sadr`s fighters seized the mosque as a headquarters during their first uprising against the US-led occupation in the spring.