Shia fighters left the holiest shrine in the Iraqi city of Najaf today and began turning in their weapons, after tens of thousands of pilgrims celebrated a peace agreement that ended a bloody rebellion.
Religious authorities locked the doors of the Imam Ali mosque after the Mehdi Army militia of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr left. The fighters had defied US military firepower and the interim Iraqi government for three weeks.
A member of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi army
Iraq's most revered cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made a dramatic return to Najaf yesterday and persuaded Sadr to accept a peace deal to halt the fighting, after a day of violence in which 110 Iraqis were killed and 501 wounded.
Militants tossed AK-47 assault rifles and mortar launchers into wooden carts being pushed around near the shrine. Mosque loudspeaker announcements in Sadr's name gave the order.
Al Arabiya television said Sadr's representatives had handed over the keys to the mosque, Iraq's holiest Shia shrine. Iraqi police took control of the area around the mosque, as envisaged under the deal.
Several Mehdi militants refused to give up their guns while some US troops - who are supposed to leave the southern city in line with the peace deal - were seen nearby.
By mid-afternoon, the narrow streets around the mosque were relatively quiet, destroyed and blackened buildings a testament to the fierce fighting that killed hundreds and drove world oil prices to record highs.
But a big question mark hangs over what role Sadr and his militia want to play in Iraq, especially ahead of elections in January. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gave them an amnesty under the peace deal. Sadr draws formidable support among Iraq's downtrodden majority Shias.
After the bitter fighting with US marines, many Mehdi militants still breathed defiance today. "We will support whatever Ayatollah Sistani and Sayyed Moqtada have agreed. But we will still slit the throats of the Americans," said one militiaman.
The Najaf uprising has been a stark reminder to the interim government and the United States, which led the war to depose Saddam Hussein last year, of the huge hurdles ahead in Iraq.
President George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time on Thursday he had erred over postwar conditions in Iraq, the New York Times reported. It quoted him as saying in an interview that he made "a miscalculation of what the conditions would be".
Tens of thousands of Shias arrived on the outskirts of Najaf yesterday, heeding a call by Sistani to march on the city. Just after dawn today, they walked past dozens of pockmarked and destroyed buildings to the mosque. Many pilgrims were overcome at the mosque. Some kissed the ornate walls inside and wept after they queued to get in.