Sadrists upbeat on Baghdad truce

By Hassan Jouini AFP - Friday, May 16 03:35 pm

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The radical movement of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr voiced optimism on Friday that a truce with the Iraqi government will hold, but also called on the faithful to drive out occupying US forces.

Sadr's Mahdi Army militia was abiding by a truce deal clinched last week that came into effect on Wednesday in the sprawling east Baghdad Shiite district of Sadr City, a spokesman said.

"A delegation of five members from the Sadr movement arrived in Sadr City with the guidance of Moqtada al-Sadr to follow up the implementation of the agreement," Sadr spokesman Salah Al-Obeidi told AFP in the central shrine city of Najaf.

"There is good cooperation between the Iraqi forces and the Sadr movement," he added.

In Sadr City itself, a slum area of two million people, the atmosphere appeared calm on Friday, the weekend holiday, an AFP correspondent said. There were no reports of overnight violence.

The head of Sadr's five-member team visiting Sadr City, Sheikh Mohanned Moussawi, told residents they should honour the truce but keep agitating against US forces.

There was no immediate reaction from the US military which has taken the full brunt of militia attacks at Sadr City over the past seven weeks.

"The recommendation of Moqtada al-Sadr is to avoid bloodshed," Moussawi said outside the cleric's office in Sadr City.

"He doesn't want Iraqi to kill Iraq. If one Iraqi wants to become a martyr I want him to fight the American occupation. We like peace and we extend our hand to the Iraqi security forces."

But another member of the delegation, Mohanned Gharawi, said there was still a lot of mistrust on all sides.

"We have a lot of work to do because there is no confidence between the people and the security forces," he said. "There are violations by the occupying (US) force."

Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting in the sprawling slum district of some two million people since late March.

Obeidi said that he hoped American forces who have been battling militiamen there will now withdraw. There was no immediate comment from the US military.

The truce provides for Iraqi security forces to deploy in Sadr City but there were no immediate signs of them moving in.

Elsewhere in the capital, a suicide bomb attack killed one man and wounded three more near Al-Nahda bus station in central Baghdad Friday, police said.

Four policemen were also wounded in Fallujah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital, in a suicide car bomb attack.

• Email Story
• IM Story
• Printable View
• Blog This
• Post a Comment

Recommend this article

Sponsored Links

(What’s this?)