A group of Iraqi politicians will tomorrow attempt to end the stand-off in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf which is threatening to descend into the bloodiest battle since the US officially declared an end to the war in Gulf state.
The last-ditch attempt to end the stand-off between Moqtada Al Sadr supporters and his Mehdi Army and US forces has been suggested by a distant relative of the Shi'ite cleric, Sayed Hussain al-Sadr.
The delegation was appointed by the interim national assembly which was selected today.
The UN has also been called upon to intervene by Iran whose predominantly Shi'ite population regard the shrine at Najaf as holy.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi spoke UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan over the weekend asking him "to do whatever he could do to defuse the situation", a UN spokesman confirmed today.
"The secretary-general's position on that is that he is prepared to play a facilitating role if it can help and if all sides agree to it," the spokesman said.
Mr Annan first offered help to end the conflict ten days ago but Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi rejected the offer.
Iraqi political and religious leaders meeting in Baghdad over the weekend to pick an interim national assembly agreed to send a delegation to Najaf to try to end the uprising, however, and an aide said the cleric would meet with them.