Posted on 05/11/2004 1:00:11 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) -
Senior aides to Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr agreed with other Shi'ite Muslim factions on Tuesday that Sadr could pull his Mehdi Army militia out of Najaf in return for a U.S. withdrawal from the holy city.
"Agreement has been reached on all points of contention. This agreement represents all shades of the Shi'ite political spectrum," Qais al-Khazali, Sadr's chief aide in Najaf, told Reuters after a meeting with rival Shi'ite leaders.
"This is the beginning of a solution to the crisis that endangers everyone," said Abu Hassan Amari, head of the Badr Brigades militia which is loyal to the rival Shi'ite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (news - web sites) (SCIRI).
There was no initial response from the U.S. military which occupies a small base and other buildings in Najaf but has kept away from the holy shrines where Sadr and his fighters have taken refuge as a month-long insurgency has stalled.
But earlier, the U.S. commander in the region, Major General Martin Dempsey said that his forces were prepared to hand over security in Najaf to a locally raised security force that could include members of Sadr's Mehdi Army.
SCIRI's Amari said one of the elements of the agreement in principle was the creation of a broad Iraqi security force.
Rival Shi'ite leaders have appeared particularly anxious to end the standoff in Najaf as local irritation with its economic impact has grown and fears have mounted that fighting could break out among various armed Shi'ite groups across the south.
There was no word on whether the deal addressed the fate of Sadr himself, a young firebrand who has irritated the Shi'ite establishment. He is wanted by an Iraqi prosecutor over the murder of a fellow cleric in Najaf a year ago.
Last month, U.S. officials vowed to kill or capture him. But they have recently backed away from that demand, preferring to stress they would support a solution worked out by Iraqis.
One model for resolving the conflict could be that of the Sunni Muslim town of Falluja, where U.S. Marines agreed to pull back after a month-long siege and turned security in the town over to an Iraqi force drawn partly from among former guerrillas.
U.S. demands in Falluja for heavy weapons and foreign fighters to be turned over have yet to be met. But so far it seems a price U.S. commanders are prepared to pay for peace.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld gestures while taking part in a town hall meeting at the Pentagon (news - web sites), Tuesday, May 11, 2004. Rumsfeld will be back on Capitol Hill Wednesday seeking funds for the operations in Iraq (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
A masked militiaman guards the newly built office of wanted Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City. Iraqis loyal to Sadr reconstructed the office after it was destroyed by US shelling.(AFP/Sabah Arar)
Because "But earlier, the U.S. commander in the region, Major General Martin Dempsey said that his forces were prepared to hand over security in Najaf to a locally raised security force that could include members of Sadr's Mehdi Army."
WTF?? Sure looks that way to me if we allow that. Even if we won, those delusional people would call it a victory. God knows what they will call us backing down and allowing the thugs who started it all to now become part of the security forces.
I wonder if Zarqawi (the al-Qaeda terrorists who decapitated Nick Berg) is hiding in Fallujah or its vicinity.
If Nick Berg was traveling west of Baghdad to reach Syria, he probably was kidnapped by Zarqawi's followers en route to the Syrian border. Fallujah is west of Baghdad on the highway to Syria, IIRC.
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