Rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has declared a two-day ceasefire in Iraq's holy city of Najaf, his spokesman said today.
Qays al-Khazali told a news conference that Sadr's Mehdi Army militia would halt military operations in and around Najaf during commemorations for the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammad's death. These take place tomorrow and Tuesday.
But Khazali also struck a defiant note. "The Americans are escalating the situation and the Mehdi Army is ready," he said.
About 2,500 US troops have been poised on the outskirts of Najaf for several days, with orders to kill or capture Sadr, whose militia staged an anti-US revolt earlier this month. US officials demand that Sadr disarm his Mehdi Army and turn himself in to stand trial in an Iraqi court for the murder last year of a moderate Shi'ite cleric in Najaf.
Representatives of Najaf's four grand ayatollahs have distanced themselves from the junior cleric's actions. "Moqtada did not consult the religious authority when he started this crisis or when he created the Mehdi Army," said a spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ishaq al-Fayadh.
Falluja, Iraq's other main flashpoint and a bastion for Sunni Muslim insurgents, experienced a second day of calm today, but five civilians were killed overnight as they tried to escape US shelling in the nearby town of Karma, witnesses said. The Americans are demanding that fighters in Falluja lay down their guns before US Marines lift their siege of the city of 300,000.
Five US marines and 25 to 30 Iraqis were killed in fierce fighting in Iraq yesterday near the Syrian border, the 1st Marine Division said today. In a statement, it said marines had battled a force of 120 to 150 guerrillas near the border town of Qusayba in a series of firefights.
In other attacks, the US military said a soldier died of wounds sustained when a roadside bomb blast struck his convoy in eastern Baghdad yesterday. Another soldier was killed and two were wounded when their patrol hit an anti-tank mine near ousted President Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit the previous day.
At least 494 US soldiers have been killed in action in Iraq since the US-led war began. The toll does not include the five Marines reported killed near the Syrian border. Since March 31st, at least 94 US soldiers have died in action in Iraq - more than were killed during the three weeks last year between the invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam.
Three Japanese flew home, three days after their release by kidnappers who had threatened to kill them unless Japan withdrew its troops from Iraq. Tokyo rejected the demand. Two more Japanese hostages were released yesterday.
Insurgents have seized about 50 foreigners this month. Most have been freed, but the captors of four Italians killed one and threatened to kill the rest unless Italian troops leave Iraq. Other foreigners believed held include two US soldiers, a US contractor, a Palestinian, a Dane and a Jordanian.