Sistani Arrives In Najaf, Where All Is Quiet

NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 26 (AFP) - Iraq`s top Shiite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani arrived on Thursday in Najaf on a mission to bring peace to the conflict-ridden holy city, an AFP correspondent saw.
Sistani`s motorcade stopped in Al-Saad, near the 1920 Revolution Square in an eastern district of Najaf, where the 73-year-old Iranian-born cleric went to rest in a house.
After days of heavy fighting in the city, quiet descended on Najaf following the announcement of a 24-hour ceasefire from interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, effective from Sistani`s arrival.
Najaf police chief Ghaleb al-Jazairi confirmed Sistani`s arrival.
"He`s in good health, but he`s tired from the trip and he cannot talk to anyone right now," he said.
Three weeks of fighting between US and Iraqi government forces and radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr`s Mehdi Army militia have rocked Najaf, causing widespread damage and endangering the Imam Ali mausoleum, one of the most sacred sites in Shiite Islam.