WAR: Najaf Siege Ends Thanks to Huge Crowd, page 1

A massive group of chanting and weeping Shiite Muslims forced open the gates to the Imam Ali shrine, effectively ending the siege that has lasted for many weeks. The group of self-proclaimed freedom fighters were happy to finally end the siege and find friends and family among those barricaded inside.

iafrica.com
The gates of Najaf's Imam Ali shrine were forced open Thursday by a sea of weeping and chanting Shiite Muslims, ending a siege of the shrine which had lasted for days and weeks of fighting with US forces.

Yet as the camp of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, who led a rebellion against the US-led forces and the new Iraqi government, went into talks with the country's highest Shiite authority, the military standoff appeared far from over.

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One of the members of the crowd shouted,"God is great. This is democracy, this is the new Iraq, this is the greatest defeat we could have inflicted on the Americans. It's the most beautiful day in my life."

The US military forces are still not leaving the area so it may be far from over.

[edit on 8-26-2004 by Valhall]