IRAQ: RESISTANCE

Christian Science Monitor: The battle for Najaf

A first-hand account by the only Western reporter in Najaf as major fighting broke out late last week

NAJAF, IRAQ – Last week, staff writer Scott Baldauf, an Iraqi interpreter, and freelance photographer Kael Alford traveled from Baghdad to the central Iraqi city of Najaf intending to write about growing tension between the Iraqi government and the Shiite militia (Mahdi Army) of Moqtada al-Sadr, an anti-American cleric. When they arrived fighting was already underway, and has continued for three days now. One American military spokesman called it the heaviest fighting since the fall of Saddam Hussein. To their surprise, they were the only Western journalists in the holy Shiite city.
What follows is Scott Baldauf's journal of events in Najaf from Thursday morning until Friday afternoon.

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