Fierce clashes around shrine

Shrapnel landed in the courtyard of the gold-domed mosque, whose outer walls have already been damaged in fighting that has killed hundreds and driven oil prices to record highs.

News that Iraq’s crude exports were back to normal on Monday for the first time in two weeks could calm jittery oil markets. Exports had been sharply reduced due to sabotage and threats from militants. The fighting around Iraq’s holiest Shi’ite Muslim shrine eased by mid-morning, while US tanks pulled back slightly from positions held on Sunday when they were as close as 800 metres from the mosque compound.

Overnight, a US AC-130 gunship blasted rebel positions after a weekend of fruitless talks between Sadr’s aides and religious authorities to hand over the keys of the shrine to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most respected Shi’ite cleric.

In an apparent relaxation of Sadr’s demand that the Mehdi Army guard the mosque even once it is handed over, a top Sadr aide said Shi’ite authorities would be responsible. ‘‘The religious establishment will be in charge of security and they should have their own security force,’’ said Sheikh Ahmed al-Sheibani, also a Mehdi militia commander.

Speaking to reporters inside the mosque, Sheibani said the cleric’s fighters would become ‘‘normal citizens’’ if US Forces returned to their bases and the southern city became stable.

The uprising is a brazen challenge to interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who took over from US-led occupiers two months ago and faces the daunting prospect of getting Iraq ready for elections in January.

Sadr, the face of Shi’ite resistance in Iraq and whose whereabouts are unknown, has at times appeared to accept the government’s demands only to spurn them later. Serious damage to the mosque could enrage millions of Shi’ites and fuel hostility to the US presence in Iraq.

There appeared to be fewer militia along the alleyways leading to the shrine on Monday than on previous days. But Sheibani said fighters were being rotated. Militants said they had enough food, water and ammunition to last for weeks, maybe months.

In fresh attempts to force foreign firms to leave Iraq, a Turkish contractor and two Iraqis who worked for a construction company were killed when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern city of Tikrit, the US Military said. The US Military said five of its troops were killed over the weekend.

An Iraqi group claiming to have links to Sadr freed US journalist Micah Garen on Sunday after holding him hostage in Nassiriya. —(Reuters)