Najaf residents' life of fear

By Kylie Morris BBC correspondent in Najaf

Mortar fire and machine gun shots keep residents awake at night

It is a terrifying existence for the ordinary people of Najaf.

The truce is barely holding.

The old city is alive with the sounds of gunfire and mortars, with American tanks in the streets and helicopters overhead.

The fighters of Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army are holed up in the cemetery next to the Imam Ali shrine.

From there they fire mortars and American tanks respond.

People who live on the fringes of the compound which houses the sacred shrine say they want the fighting to finish.

They cannot sleep at night. They have been trying to get their families out of the city.

One man I spoke to pointed to a body lying on a street corner to show how deadly their situation had become.

Catastrophic situation

He told me the man was killed by an American tank which stood just around the corner.

"That is what happens to anyone who goes around the corner where there is an American tank waiting for them," he said.

These people are used to living in a very vibrant old city - seeing pilgrims stream past them to the Imam Ali mosque.

These days it is the complete opposite - it is a really catastrophic situation for them.

As you drive into the town of Najaf itself there is an eerie sense that everything is fine.

But as you come closer to the Old City the streets suddenly start to empty out and the shops are boarded up.

By the time you are close to Imam Ali shrine it is very clear that you are in a war zone.

A religious leader in the neighbourhood told me what most Muslims want is for peace to return to the Shia holy place.

The people who live here are isolated from what is going on.

But they hope that a solution will be found and that this national conference will be able to achieve that.