NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 24 (AFP) - Moqtada Sadr will be killed or captured if he resists Iraqi troops, the government warned Tuesday, while a spokesman said the Shiite militia leader would never accept humilitation after 20 days of fighting.
"If Moqtada Sadr surrenders, he will be safe and sound. If he resists, the only thing for him is death or prison," Defence Minister Hazem al-Shaalan told reporters at a US base outside Najaf, as broadcast by Al-Arabiya television.
Dozens of national guardsmen joined US troops around Sadr`s stronghold in Najaf`s revered city-centre shrine compund for the first time earlier Tuesday.
Heavy machine-gun and tank fire pummelled the neighbourhood in heavy clashes with Sadr`s Mehdi Army militia.
US tanks and armoured cars crawled through the bombed-out streets, just 200 metres (yards) from the Imam Ali shrine.
"A large Iraqi force will near the mausoleum, waiting for the signal for the assault, unless they surrender. There are only a few hours left," said Shaalan.
"When your brothers approach, they will appeal (to the militiamen) to surrender. It will be great for him and for the future of his supporters if Moqtada surrenders to the state," he said.
But speaking to reporters inside the shrine compound, Sadr`s spokesman Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani said government threats would only exacerbate the crisis.
"We will not accept any solution that is humilitating for us. We are opening the door to a peaceful solution and we hope this will stop the fighting," he said, reiterating a readiness to hand over the shrine to the Shiite religious leadership.
"They must stop threatening us, because these threats will lead to more destruction and chaos," he said, adding that the solution was for foreign troops to pull out of Iraqi towns and villages.
"The Mehdi Army was formed only because of the occupiers. If they return to their bases and leave the villages, then the Mehdi Army will drop its weapons and go back to civilian life," he said.