Iraqi Cleric Orders Shiite Fighters Off Streets

BAGHDAD — Un a possible turning point in the recent upsurge in violence, Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his Shiite militiamen off the streets yesterday but called on the government to stop its raids against his followers.The government welcomed the move, which followed intense negotiations by Shiite officials, including two lawmakers who reportedly traveled to Iran to ask religious authorities there to intervene.Prime Minister al-Maliki, whose offensive that began Tuesday in the oil-rich southern city in Basra sparked the crisis, called Mr. Sadr’s statement “a step in the right direction.”But fighting continued in the Basra area after the announcement. Seven people also were killed when a mortar struck a residential district in Baghdad’s Karradah district, and witnesses reported clashes in the Shula area in a northern section of the capital. An American airstrike killed 25 suspected militants after American ground forces came under heavy fire during a combat patrol in predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad, where the fiercest clashes in the capital have occurred.The nine-point statement by the anti-American cleric, broadcast through Shiite mosques in Baghdad and across the south, called for an end to the “armed presence” in Basra and other cities and urged followers “to cooperate with the government to achieve security.” Mr. Sadr, however, also demanded that the Iraqi government stop “illegal and haphazard raids” and release security detainees who haven’t been charged, two issues cited by his movement as reasons for fighting the government.The Sadrists have complained that the government has released few of their followers under a new amnesty law, which they complain has favored Sunnis who have recently joined with the Americans to fight Al Qaeda.The cleric’s decision offered a way out of a widening Shiite conflict at a time when government forces appeared to be making little headway against the well-armed militias in Basra.Mr. Sadr’s order stopped short of calling on his fighters to disarm. And the government insisted it would still target “outlaws.”Iraqi authorities in Baghdad said a citywide curfew would be lifted this morning, although a vehicle ban remained on three strongholds of Mr. Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia in the capital.Before Mr. Sadr’s statement, dozens of Shiite gunmen yesterday stormed a government television facility in central Basra, forcing Iraqi troops guarding the building to flee and setting armored vehicles on fire.One of Mr. Maliki’s top security officials also was killed in a mortar attack in Basra, officials said. The prime minister’s Dawa party issued a statement of condolences identifying the slain official as Salim Qassim, known by his nickname Abu Laith al-Kadhimi.In an effort to curb the growing violence, two senior Shiite lawmakers close to Mr. Maliki — Hadi al-Amri and Ali al-Adeeb — traveled to Iran and asked authorities there to stop the flow of weapons to Mr. Sadr’s Mahdi Army, according to two officials.The lawmakers also asked the Iranians to pressure Mr. Sadr to come up with a face-saving initiative, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Iraqi Cleric Orders Shiite Fighters Off Streets

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