Iraq cleric agrees to ceasefire… sort of

BAGHDAD – Followers of renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have agreed a cease-fire with Iraq’s interim government aimed at ending weeks of fighting in the vast Baghdad slum of Sadr City, a mediator said yesterday.

However, key members of the cleric’s movement insisted terms of the deal had not been finalised. The claims and counterclaims followed an announcement Tuesday by prime minister Ayad Allawi that the basis of an agreement had been reached between his interim government and al-Sadr’s followers.He provided no details.Kareem al-Bakhatti, a pro-al-Sadr tribal elder who has been trying to bring the two sides together, said they signed an agreement that would be formally announced in city mosques yesterday.Under Tuesday’s plan, militia fighters loyal to the influential cleric would turn in their weapons in exchange for cash payments and immunity from prosecution for most of his followers, al-Bakhatti said.Iraqi police would take over security responsibilities in Sadr City and American forces would only enter the district with the approval of Iraqi authorities, he said.American and Iraqi forces have been battling al-Sadr’s Mahdi militia for weeks in the Sadr City district of northeast Baghdad, home to more than two million people.U.S. and Iraqi authorities are trying to suppress both Shiite and Sunni insurgents to allow for national elections in January.- Nampa-APThe claims and counterclaims followed an announcement Tuesday by prime minister Ayad Allawi that the basis of an agreement had been reached between his interim government and al-Sadr’s followers.He provided no details.Kareem al-Bakhatti, a pro-al-Sadr tribal elder who has been trying to bring the two sides together, said they signed an agreement that would be formally announced in city mosques yesterday.Under Tuesday’s plan, militia fighters loyal to the influential cleric would turn in their weapons in exchange for cash payments and immunity from prosecution for most of his followers, al-Bakhatti said.Iraqi police would take over security responsibilities in Sadr City and American forces would only enter the district with the approval of Iraqi authorities, he said.American and Iraqi forces have been battling al-Sadr’s Mahdi militia for weeks in the Sadr City district of northeast Baghdad, home to more than two million people.U.S. and Iraqi authorities are trying to suppress both Shiite and Sunni insurgents to allow for national elections in January.- Nampa-AP