NAJAF, Iraq, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Peace talks between Iraq's government and rebel forces loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf failed Saturday, CNN reported.
Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, suggested fighting would soon in the south-central Iraqi city that is home to the Imam Ali Shrine, where al-Sadr and his supporters are barricaded.
Rubaei said the Iraqi government "took the initiative" to pull back U.S. forces and "took several measures to provide the convenient atmosphere for negotiations, including opening safe passages to move the injured to hospitals and allowed medical and food supplies to all parts of the city." But he said despite those measures, the negotiations failed.
At the same time, thousands of Muslims were heading to Najaf in support of al-Sadr. On Friday, Al-Sadr demanded U.S. forces leave Iraq and told his supporters to defend Najaf, located 60 miles south of Baghdad, and become martyrs.
Iraqi authorities said people hiding inside the shrine's compound have fired mortars and laid land mines, but an al-Sadr spokesman denied the accusation.
Earlier Saturday U.S. forces bombed insurgent positions in Samarra, north of Baghdad, killing about 50 "anti-Iraqi forces," a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division said.
