US won't enter Najaf old town
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed) Governor of Najaf Adana al-Thefri yesterday said US forces would not enter the old city of Najaf where followers of Muqtada al-Sadr were located. They would stop at Maidan Square and it would be the task of the Iraqi police and military to enter the old city once a decision was taken, he added. US forces took hold of a big part of the cemetery. Battles continued in the area known as the "Najaf Sea". A ceasefire seemed impossible as no agreement was signed with the militias to withdraw from the city. Military operations would continue, he added.
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed is an independent daily paper.)

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US, Iraqi forces plan assault on Mahdists
(Asharq Al-Awsat) The US army and Iraqi security forces may be planning a vast attack on the Mahdi army which the Iraqi government considers "outlaws". US and Iraqi forces practiced joint exercises in preparation for the attack. The Government accused the Mahdi Army of violating Najaf's sacred places by using them as shelters and as weapons dumps. Meanwhile, Muqtada al-Sadr urged his followers to keep fighting even if he was killed or arrested.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

Central Bank has 'no claim' against Chalabi
(Al-Mutamar) Central Bank Sinan al-Shabibi has denied the allegations of Zuhair al-Maliki upon which he issued a warrant of arrest to Ahmed al-Chalabi. Maliki accused Chalabi of counterfeiting, but Sinan said the Central Bank made no claim against Chalabi.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

Chalabi returns to Baghdad
(Al-Taakhi) An official in the Iraqi National Congress said that party leader Ahmed al-Chalabi had returned to Baghdad despite the order to vacate his offices and the warrant for his arrest. The official added that 30 armed elements of the new Iraqi intelligence service accompanied by a US official, seized the party's headquarters and used it for their own.
(Al-Taakhi is issued daily by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.)

National Congress to open on August 15
(Azzaman) Chief of the Supreme Board for the National Congress Fuad Masoum said the congress would be held on August 15. Twelve parties and political movements announced their conditional participation, he added. Clerics, military men, artists and civil society associations were invited to take part in the congress. He said Ahmed al-Chalabi was a basic member of the Congress. Negotiations continued with Muqtada al-Sadr and the Muslim Clerics Board to participate in the congress, he added.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)

Sadr makes no threat says oil company
(Al-Sabah) In reply to the multi-lateral forces media spokesman, the Southern Oil Company media office has denied any threat to it issued by the Mahdi Army. The office affirmed that Iraqi oil exports had reached 1.3 million barrels a day. Meanwhile, Salam Auda, a political spokesman for Muqtada Sadr's office in Basra Salam Auda said the Mahdi army would not target the oil installations.
(Al-Sabah is a daily independent publicly owned newspaper.)