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Najaf Overshadows Iraqi Conference

Protests over fighting in Najaf cloud the opening of a Baghdad conference to choose an interim national assembly. Shiite demands for Iraqi officials to resume truce talks with militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr prompt the delegates to issue a call for Sadr's gunmen to abandon the shrine of the Imam Ali. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

Copyright 2004 NPR

Ivan Watson
Ivan Watson is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey. Following the 9-11 terrorist attacks, he has served as one of NPR's foreign "firemen," shuttling to and from hotspots around the Middle East and Central Asia.