On Wednesday, a senior coalition official said the coalition won't negotiate with al-Sadr over its demands that he face justice, and that his militia be withdrawn from all government buildings and disbanded. However, the official said on condition of anonymity that the coalition would welcome efforts by "individuals" to help fulfill its demands.

Al-Zurufi, the new Najaf governor, said he will ask the U.S.-led administration to defer murder charges against al-Sadr until after the Americans transfer power to an Iraqi administration June 30. However, the militias will have to disband and disarm, and police will take over security of the province, al-Zurufi said.

Al-Sadr has been holed up in Najaf since last month after U.S. authorities announced an arrest warrant against him in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate rival cleric.

Mansour al-Assadi, a senior tribal leader, said a proposed deal would require all armed groups to withdraw from Najaf to defuse rising tensions among rival Iraqi groups.

In exchange, murder charges against al-Sadr would be postponed until a permanent constitution is adopted next year, and he would be tried by an Islamic court.

The Iraqi government due to take office June 30 will not be elected but appointed after consultations with U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is in Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi and American officials. Elections are expected by January.

Also Wednesday, gunmen fired on a car carrying Iraqi security forces north of Baghdad, killing one man and seriously wounding his brother, Iraqi authorities said. Two other members of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Civil Defense were hurt in the attack near the city of Baqouba.

In Samarra, also north of Baghdad, about 20 gunmen raided a police station Tuesday night, and the seven police inside fled. The attackers then detonated a bomb that destroyed the building and two police cars.

Baqouba and Samarra are largely Sunni Muslim towns that formed a core of support for Saddam Hussein's former regime.