An eight-member delegation of Iraqi political and religious leaders flew out of Baghdad on U.S. military helicopters on Tuesday, heading for Najaf in a bid to end a bloody Shi'ite uprising, Reuters quoted delegates as saying. The delegation, led by U.S. ally Sheikh Hussein al-Sadr, hopes to meet radical Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to relay a call from a 1,300-delegate national conference to disarm his militia and leave a holy shrine in Najaf to end the uprising.
