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.
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