Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr sent his fighters home today in what may mark the end of a 10-week revolt against US-led forces that once engulfed southern Iraq and Shia Islam's holiest shrines.
With the formal end of US-led occupation just two weeks away, Sadr issued a statement from his base in Najaf calling on his Mehdi Army militiamen to go home.
"Each of the individuals of the Mehdi Army, the loyalists who made sacrifices...should return to their governorates to do their duty," the statement said.
That call came a day after President Bush said the United States would not oppose a political role for Sadr - only weeks after branding him an anti-democratic thug.
Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
The April uprising, which coincided with heavy fighting between US Marines and Sunni Muslim insurgents in Falluja, west of Baghdad, pushed Iraq closer towards bloody chaos.
Apart from the huge casualty toll, Sadr was under pressure from moderate Shia leaders opposed to his firebrand ways and appalled by fighting near holy shrines.
National elections are due to be held by January 31st under a US-backed plan for Iraq's political transition.
As Iraqi leaders brace for the challenge of running a country suffering from violence and economic hardships, it seems Sadr may keep the interim government guessing.
"Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr enters into political matters. But this does not mean he will enter elections," Sadr's spokesman Qais al-Khazali told Reuters on Wednesday.
"Our position is clear, Sadr's entry into politics will not be direct but we have ideas...There are no nominees or names suggested."