Fighting halts for talks with al-Sadr's people

NAJAF, Iraq — U.S. forces abruptly ceased offensive operations here against Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia on Friday to allow peace talks between representatives of Iraq's interim government and people close to al-Sadr, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

Al-Sadr issued a statement late Friday calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Najaf and for the Shiite holy city to be placed under the custodianship of two senior ayatollahs. One of al-Sadr's aides, Ali Smaisim, said that in exchange for the militia's pullout from Najaf, the cleric also wanted its members to be granted amnesty and his supporters to be allowed to participate in politics.

Senior government officials in Baghdad met into the night Friday to discuss the proposal, but there was no immediate announcement of whether the terms were acceptable to Iraq's interim leadership. Government officials previously have demanded that al-Sadr disband his militia, known as the Mahdi Army — something he did not promise to do, according to the terms of his offer outlined by Smaisim.

As the crisis has escalated, though, both sides have been pushed toward a settlement, despite concerns among U.S. military officials that any negotiated end to the hostilities that allowed al-Sadr to retain his militia could pose a serious threat to the interim government.

At 11 p.m. Friday, al-Sadr's spokesman, Ahmed Shaibani, said a cease-fire agreement had been reached with government negotiators that called for halt to fighting but not a withdrawal of forces. Shaibani, who called the talks "serious and positive, but difficult," said the deal only applied to Najaf and not to other Iraqi cities wracked by violence between al-Sadr's militiamen and security forces.

Shortly after Shaibani's announcement, al-Sadr walked into the gold-domed shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf's old quarter, which was seized by the Mahdi Army last week, and exhorted his supporters to "keep fighting."

"I will not leave Najaf, and I ask all the holy warriors not to leave," he said. "I ask all holy warriors to stay firm and fight. We say this truce might be a trick. Don't be deceived."

In a brief but defiant address, he called on the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, to resign. Allawi's government, he said, is "rejected by all Iraqis."

"We got rid of Saddam (Hussein) but we got a worse government," he said.

Although al-Sadr's aides had told reporters earlier on Friday that the cleric had been wounded in the chest and leg by shrapnel, he did not appear to be hurt during his appearance at the shrine.