NAJAF, 19 August 2004 — Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has agreed to withdraw his troops from downtown Najaf and comply with a peace plan averting a bloodbath here. Sadr agreed yesterday to disarm his militia and leave one of the country’s holiest Islamic shrines, but only after a truce with encircling US Marines.
The dramatic 11th-hour announcement came after Iraq’s interim government only hours earlier threatened to storm the Imam Ali Mosque here to teach Moqtada Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia “a lesson they will never forget”.
Explosions and gun fire still echoed around the mosque after Sadr agreed to end his two-week rebellion.
“Sayyed Moqtada and his fighters are ready to throw down their weapons and leave for the sake of Iraq,” Ali Al-Yassiri, Sadr’s political liaison officer, told Reuters. “But they should stop attacking him first and pull away from the shrine.”
In Washington, the United States responded cautiously to the reports of an agreement, saying there was no indication Sadr’s militia was withdrawing. “I don’t think at this time that the situation on the ground appears to indicate a withdrawal by Sadr’s forces,” State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. “Obviously, we would welcome such a move, and it’s critical to restoring calm in Najaf. But right now I think we just have to wait and see what the developments are.”
Sadr reportedly sent a message to the National Conference delegates meeting in Baghdad that said he would comply with a three-point peace plan that a conference delegation attempted to present him with in Najaf on Tuesday. The three-point plan called on Sadr to withdraw his militia from downtown Najaf, where they have been battling US and Iraqi forces. The militia would be disbanded and turned into a political party under the proposal.
Sadr and his followers were promised amnesty in return for agreeing to the proposal. A timeframe for withdrawing the militia has not yet been agreed.
Jalil Al-Shumari, a delegate to the Baghdad meeting, read a letter from Sadr’s office announcing the cleric had backed down. “The agreement from Sadr came after many calls from Iraqi tribes, parties and citizens whom pressured him hard,” he said.
Defense Minister Hazim Al-Shaalan had some six hours earlier said an assault was imminent on the mosque. “We are in the process of completing all our military preparations ... We will teach them a lesson they will never forget,” Shaalan said in the city after meeting local officials.
American Marines and soldiers have been doing most of the fighting in Najaf, but Shaalan said Iraqi forces had been training to storm the shrine complex and that US forces would not enter the sacred site.
Sadr’s acceptance of the demands marks a sharp turnaround for the icon of Iraq’s impoverished Shi’ite youth, who had threatened to fight to the death if necessary.
Meanwhile, the director of Najaf’s main hospital, Falah Al-Muhana, said 29 people had been brought in killed or wounded in the clashes yesterday, but there were no more precise figures. US casualties are treated at their own bases.
Also the Baghdad conference announced members of a new council to oversee the interim government. A list of 81 government-backed candidates was chosen after four days of deliberations. The rest were made up of members of Iraq’s now defunct governing council.
The meeting was prolonged for a day by disputes over Najaf and wrangling over the make-up of the council. “This was an illegitimate process that was dominated by the government and did not represent the composition of Iraq,” said independent delegate Jawad Al-Ubaidi.
The council will be able to veto legislation with a two thirds majority, approve the 2005 budget and appoint a new prime minister or president should either quit or die in office.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry sources said yesterday 21 people had been killed in clashes in Baghdad, Basra, Diwaniya and Najaf and dozens wounded in the past 24 hours.
In Baghdad, an American soldier was shot dead while on patrol in a suburb that is a Sadr stronghold, the US military said. Fighters also fired mortar rounds in Baghdad, with one landing near the venue for choosing the assembly. Two more mortar bombs were fired near the Interior Ministry in Baghdad. No casualties were reported in either attack.
— Additional input from Agencies
