IRAQ: Radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr agreed yesterday to disarm his Iraqi militia and leave a holy shrine but only after a truce with encircling US marines.
A senior aide said Mr al-Sadr had demanded a ceasefire first with US-led forces in Najaf before disarming his Mehdi militia and leaving the Imam Ali Mosque.
Explosions and gunfire still echoed around the mosque, hours after the announcement that Mr al-Sadr had agreed to end a rebellion that has posed the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi since he took over from US-led occupiers in June.
"Sayyed Moqtada and his fighters are ready to throw down their weapons and leave for the sake of Iraq," Ali al-Yassiri, Mr al-Sadr's political liaison officer, said. "But they should stop attacking him first and pull away from the shrine."
Delegates at a meeting to choose an interim national assembly in Baghdad said Mr al-Sadr had agreed to accept their demands to resolve the two-week crisis that has killed hundreds, spread to seven other cities and rattled world oil markets.
Mr al-Sadr's fighters have holed up in the shrine in the heart of the southern city, hoping US and Iraqi forces would not dare to attack one of the holiest sites for Iraq's majority Shias.
Jalil al-Shumari, a delegate to the Baghdad meeting, read a letter from Mr al-Sadr's office announcing the cleric had backed down.
"The agreement from Sadr came after many calls from Iraqi tribes, parties and citizens who pressured him hard," he said.
Defence Minister Hazim al-Shaalan had some six hours earlier said an assault was imminent on the golden-domed mosque.
"We are in the process of completing all our military preparations . . . We will teach them a lesson they will never forget," Mr al-Shaalan said in the city after meeting local officials.
American marines and soldiers have been doing most of the fighting in Najaf, but Mr al-Shaalan said Iraqi forces had been training to storm the shrine complex and that US forces would not enter the sacred site.
Mr al-Sadr's apparent acceptance of the demands marks a sharp turnaround for the icon of Iraq's impoverished Shia youth, who had threatened to fight to the death if necessary.
The scion of a Shia clerical dynasty and aged about 30, Mr al- Sadr is the most powerful opponent of the US and the interim government.
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.
Apart from Mr al-Sadr leaving the shrine, the delegates demanded that his men lay down their weapons and that the cleric and his men disavow violence and participate in elections set for January.
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 meeting was prolonged for a day by disputes over Najaf and wrangling over the make-up of the council.
In Baghdad, an American soldier was shot dead while on patrol in a suburb that is a Sadr stronghold, the US military said.
Insurgents 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.
But in the northern city of Mosul, a mortar bomb hit a market, killing five civilians, officials said.