Iraq: August 17, 2004

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A group of eight prominent Iraqis, selected from the Iraqi National Conference, a group of 1,100 Iraqis meeting in Baghdad to select a hundred of their number to supervise elections next year, and advise the interim government, went to Najaf to try and meet with Muqtada al Sadr.  The delegation waited three hours in the Imam Ali shrine, but Sadr didn't appear. American and Iraqi troops continue to surround the Iman Ali complex, and low level fighting continues. The National Conference delegation wanted to demand that Sadr leave the shrine, disarm him militia and join conventional politics. Most Iraqis agree that all these private militias are a bad thing and must be dealt with.