Rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr began pulling his fighters from the Iraqi holy city of Najaf yesterday after offering a deal to end a bloody standoff with US forces that has left hundreds dead.
A deal with the firebrand young preacher could staunch a major source of trouble for US troops as Washington prepares to hand over some power to an Iraqi interim government on June 30.
Squad commanders from Sadr's Mehdi Army militia said they had orders to quit their positions yesterday after the first night in some time that was free of major clashes.
PHOTO: AP
Iraq's national security adviser and a senior aide to Sadr said they expected US commanders to agree to a deal after Sadr asked them to pull their troops off the streets.
"I am optimistic about arriving at an agreement in the coming few hours," said Ahmed Shebani, a Sadr aide.
"I can say there are extensive efforts to solve this crisis," he said.
Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, quoting a statement signed by Sadr, said the cleric was willing to pull members of his Mehdi Army militia who are not normally resident in Najaf out of the city and had demanded in return that a murder case for which he is wanted be suspended.
"The coalition is going to announce its respect for the deal within the next couple of hours," Rubaie said.
There was no immediate response from the US authorities in Iraq, who have dismissed previous truce offers and said Sadr must face the Iraqi murder charge and disband his forces.
Armed men began moving from positions. One squad leader, Ali Abu Zahra, said he had formal instructions from Sadr to move his unit out: "It was a written and verbal order," he said.
US troops seized a relative and senior lieutenant to Sadr early on Wednesday, who was also wanted over the same murder.
Violence remains widespread across Iraq. The US military said three Marines were killed in western Iraq on Wednesday.
Sadr's statement, quoted by Rubaie, said: "To end the tragic situation in Najaf and the violation ... of the holy places, I announce my agreement to the following: an end to all armed demonstrations, the evacuation of government buildings ... and the withdrawal of all Mehdi Army fighters."
Sadr called for US troops who have fanned out through the city -- site of the shrine holiest to Shiite Muslims who make up 60 percent of Iraq's population -- to pull back to bases in the city, leaving Iraqi police to patrol the streets.
He also called for negotiations with Iraq's Shiite community -- much of whose leadership is bitterly opposed to Sadr -- on the future of his Mehdi Army.
US forces have spent weeks trying to crush Sadr's militia, which has support among Shiites in the capital and southern cities, since an uprising that erupted last month after the arrest of a key aide and announcement of the warrant for Sadr's arrest over the murder of a rival cleric in Najaf a year ago.
Hundreds and possibly thousands of poorly trained and religiously inspired young men have flocked to Sadr's cause.
US commanders have been driven to lament the ease with which troops have been able to kill dozens of youths daily as they stand up to tanks with machine guns and grenade launchers.
US plans for a handover to an Iraqi government came under renewed fire, with China insisting on a deadline for a US troop pullout amid more confusion over chains of command.
Hussain Shahristani, a nuclear scientist jailed by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, was first tipped by US officials to be prime minister in an interim government, then was ruled out. Shahristani himself said he would prefer not to take the job.
In fresh criticism of a draft UN resolution presented by Washington and London on Monday, China proposed changes that would set a time limit on the US-led multinational force's stay in Iraq after the occupation ends officially on June 30.
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
‘VERY DIRE’: This year’s drought, exacerbated by El Nino, is affecting 44 percent of Malawi’s crop area and up to 40 percent of its population of 20.4 million In the worst drought in southern Africa in a century, villagers in Malawi are digging for potentially poisonous wild yams to eat as their crops lie scorched in the fields. “Our situation is very dire, we are starving,” 76-year-old grandmother Manesi Levison said as she watched over a pot of bitter, orange wild yams that she says must cook for eight hours to remove the toxins. “Sometimes the kids go for two days without any food,” she said. Levison has 30 grandchildren under her care. Ten are huddled under the thatched roof of her home at Salima, near Lake Malawi, while she boils
RSS