International

Mortar Rounds Mar Fragile Truce in Najaf

By Eric Westervelt, Scott Simon

Published May 28, 2004 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 20 years ago.

A tenuous cease-fire with the militia of radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has yet to take full hold in the holy city of Najaf. Units tied to Sadr fired mortar rounds at U.S. forces at a bridge to neighboring Kufa. It's unclear how much control Sadr has over his fighters. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and NPR's Eric Westervelt.

International

Eric Westervelt

Eric Westervelt is a San Francisco-based correspondent for NPR's National Desk. He has reported on major events for the network from wars and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa to historic wildfires and terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Scott Simon

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.