A radical Shiite cleric called on his followers yesterday to end clashes with Shiite rivals so that stalled talks on a new constitution can proceed. Clashes continued for a second day after the cleric's office in Najaf was burned and four of his supporters were killed.
Following the appeal by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leaders of the country's political factions met in Baghdad's Green Zone to try to hammer out an agreement on the draft constitution on the final day of an extension granted on Monday night by parliament after Sunni Arabs blocked a vote on the accord accepted by Shiite and Kurdish negotiators.
However, negotiators involved in drafting the constitution warned that the eruption of violence between rival militia groups in Shiite-dominated parts of southern Iraq could affect the parliament vote.
Seven people have been killed and dozens wounded since late Wednesday when supporters of al-Sadr clashed with the rival Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a powerful Shiite party led by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.
"The Shiite clashes have come at an awkward time. It threatens today's constitutional approval as 22 MPs [members of parliament] and two Cabinet ministers are close to Sadr and if they do not vote it will be a tough call," said Kurdish constitution committee member Mahmud Othman.
"We need to unite and maintain peace as this incident can divert Iraq from the constitution to violence," President Jalal Talabani told Sadr, according to a statement from his office.
Sadr himself, who launched two uprisings last year against US forces which left hundreds of US soldiers and his militants dead and is now a critic of the current draft constitution, appealed for calm.
"I call upon the people of Iraq ... the believers ... to preserve Muslim blood and go back home. I call upon them to maintain calm," he told reporters.
Clashes flared in Baghdad and several southern cities after fighting between Sadr's Mehdi army and the SCIRI militia Badr in Najaf killed five people on Wednesday.
The violence erupted after traders in the old city of Najaf, which houses the revered Imam Ali shrine, demonstrated against Sadr supporters who were attempting to reopen their local office which was shut down after last year's uprising. The office was gutted in Wednesday's clashes.
Within hours violence spread to Baghdad and other southern cities, including Nasiriyah and Diwaniyah where two men were killed and many wounded overnight.
In Baghdad, the Mehdi army took control of Shiite stronghold of Sadr City. Though unarmed, militiamen were seen moving on the streets with no sign of Iraqi security forces.
"The security situation has raised doubts as Sadr has always maintained that he will not agree to any constitution under the American occupation and he is also against federalism," Othman said.
Although Sadr's movement officially boycotted January's historic elections, it has about two dozen sympathizers in parliament, mostly within the ranks of the dominant Shiite United Iraqi Alliance.
The Sunni Arabs maintained their opposition to the draft charter. The charter -- which the government hopes will help stem the bloody Sunni-led insurgency -- was presented incomplete Monday with unresolved differences over crucial issues such as federalism, the role of Islam and sharing of oil wealth.
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