A little earlier today, al-Reuters wire service called Muqtada al-Sadr’s teenage holy warriors impassioned and organized.

Now Knight Ridder says they’re weary and dispirited.

The hardcore fighters stayed outside. Only a handful of armed men ventured inside the shrine, where few weapons were visible. Mostly, al-Sadr supporters cherished their relative safety and wondered how long it would last.

“There must be a result from all this,” said Haider Qassim, 33, who sold shoes before joining al-Sadr’s forces. “Blood just can’t spill like this for nothing. Why? Why were all those people killed?”

Young men curled up in brilliantly tiled nooks to read the Quran. There was public praise for a man from the western Sunni town of Fallujah who’s now fighting with the Shiite-dominated Mahdi Army. Sunni and Shiite Muslims are traditional rivals.

Most of the Shiite supporters weren’t from Najaf; several begged to use a satellite phone to check in with loved ones. “Please let me call my mother in Baghdad,” a 14-year-old boy pleaded. “She has no idea whether I’m alive or dead.”

As night fell, streams of tiny electric lights illuminated the deep blue of the shrine. The darkness also hid shrapnel-chipped tiles and the bullet-speckled landmark golden dome. An imam’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker, claiming rebels had burned three American tanks. Most worshippers perched on mats were too tired to cheer.

“