In a dramatic reversal, Iraq’s prime minister ordered a nationwide freeze on Friday on Iraqi raids against Shiite militants, bowing to demands by anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr only one day after promising to expand the crackdown to Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued the order after al-Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia fought government troops last month in Basra and elsewhere, hinted at retaliation if Iraqi security forces continue to arrest his followers.
A statement by al-Maliki’s office, broadcast on government television, did not mention the Mehdi Army by name or give a timeframe for the freeze. It said the move was designed to give a “chance to those who repented and want to lay down their arms.”
But the statement was issued less than 24 hours after al-Maliki told reporters he intended to launch security operations against Mehdi Army strongholds in Baghdad, including Sadr City, home to some 2.5 million Shiites and the militia’s largest base.
“It is not possible to look for only a military solution. There must be a political solution and that’s why the prime minister issued today’s statement,” a top al-Maliki adviser, Sadiq al-Rikabi, said.
“We must have calm. Many politicians advised al-Maliki against confrontation, warning him that clashes benefited other parties,” al-Rikabi said without elaborating.
In his Friday statement, al-Maliki said that extremists “who lay down their arms and participated in the recent acts of violence” would not be prosecuted.
US military officials did not respond to requests for comment on the Friday statement.
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker had praised al-Maliki for his decision to strike at Shiite militias last month in Basra, even as he acknowledged that the operation ran into “a boatload of problems.” The clashes quickly spread throughout the Shiite south and to Baghdad, where Shiite militiamen pounded the US-controlled Green Zone with rockets and mortar fire, killing at least two Americans.
Major fighting eased last Sunday after al-Sadr ordered his men off the street under a deal brokered in Iran — a move that appeared to undermine al-Maliki, who had taken personal command of the Basra operation.
In Amman, Jordan, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, David Shearer, said an estimated 700 people were killed and more than 1,500 were wounded in fighting that erupted after the Basra crackdown. He said the figures could rise “as facts and the numbers become more clear.”
US and Iraqi authorities had insisted the Basra operation was not aimed at al-Sadr’s powerful political movement but instead at ridding the streets of criminals and gunmen who had effectively ruled the city since 2005.
But al-Sadr’s supporters believed the crackdown was aimed at weakening their movement before provincial elections this fall.
Al-Sadr expects to score major electoral gains against Shiite parties that work with the Americans.
In Basra, military and police officials said about 900 Iraqi soldiers and police deserted or refused to fight in the militias after the offensive was launched on March 25.
The officials said the mutiny involved an army battalion from the 4th Iraqi Division numbering about 500 men as well as about 400 policemen.
Deserters said they did not want to fight fellow Shiites and turned over weapons and vehicles to the Mehdi Army, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Iraqi officials have acknowledged desertions but described the numbers as insignificant.
However, the desertions cast new doubt on the effectiveness of US-trained Iraqi security forces. The White House has conditioned further US troop withdrawals on the readiness of the Iraqi military and police.
Despite a drop in fighting, officials have insisted that the crackdown will continue until it breaks the stronghold by armed groups.
It was unclear, however, whether the freeze order might affect the plan.
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