Fierce fighting erupts in Najaf, 7 other Iraqi cities
/US troops and Shiite militiamen fought fierce battles in the holy Iraqi
city of Najaf on Monday, just hours after political and religious
leaders in Baghdad agreed to make a last-ditch appeal for peace.
Broadening their uprising from the urban battlefield in Najaf and seven
other cities, the Mehdi militia of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr set
an oil well on fire in southern Iraq, the government said, sparking a
jump in world oil prices. Iraqis meeting to pick an interim national
assembly in Baghdad said they would send a delegation to Najaf to try
to convince Sadr to end a conflict that has killed hundreds and
undermined the authority of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. [more 
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