US forces said they would pull back from positions nearest to holy shrines in the Iraqi city of Najaf today, to help shore up a truce with fighters loyal to a radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Col Brad May told a CNN correspondent US troops would be on hand to support Iraqi police forces taking control of key sites as part of the truce deal but said there had been a "breakthrough" towards ending weeks of fighting.