The Americans looks set to repeat the atrocities of Falluja, as they gather on the outskirts of Najaf.

Al Sadr has declared his will to die for the cause, and asked for the uprising to continue should he fall in a battle in Najaf which may prove even more costly than that we have seen in Falluja.

Najaf's population is around half a million to the 300,000 of Falluja.

For the world's nearly 120 million Shiite Muslims, Najaf is also the third holiest city, behind Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.