Iraqi government accepts peace deal

Dawoud said the government would not try to arrest radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr despite the weeks of violence.

“He is as free as any Iraqi citizen to do whatever he likes,” he said.

United States and coalition forces would pull out of Najaf as soon as interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi orders them to leave, Dawoud said.

The government also appeared to back down from its previous demand that al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia must disband and become a political party, saying only that the fighters should put down their arms.

Today's deal was brokered by Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, after he made a dramatic return to Najaf and swiftly won agreement from a rebel cleric and the government to end three weeks of fighting between his militia and United States-Iraqi forces.

The renegade Muqtada al-Sadr accepted the proposal in a face-to-face meeting tonight with the 75-year-old al-Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric.

Al-Sistani returned to Iraq after heart treatment in London to intervene for the first time in the bloody conflict, drawing thousands of followers who marched on Najaf and massed on its outskirts.

In the 24 hours before he entered the holy city, more than 90 Iraqis were killed in fighting – including 27 who died when mortars blasted a mosque in neighbouring Kufa, where thousands had gathered to march into Najaf in support of al-Sistani’s mission.

Fighting eased after al-Sistani arrived, when the US military and the Iraqi government called a 24-hour ceasefire to give him a chance to work on the deal.

The acceptance by the young, firebrand preacher al-Sadr – whose militia has been battling US and Iraqi forces since August 5 – does not necessarily mean an end to the crisis. He has agreed to peace proposals before, and they have quickly fallen apart.

But State Minister Qassim Dawoud, announcing the administration’s acceptance, was optimistic.

US and coalition forces will pull out of Najaf as soon as interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi orders them to leave, Dawoud said.

“Brothers, we have entered the door to peace,” he said, adding that the government would not try to arrest al-Sadr, who was being sought for an alleged role in the slaying of a rival cleric last year.

The five-point plan called for Najaf and Kufa to be declared weapons-free cities, for all foreign forces to withdraw from Najaf, for police to be in charge of security, for the government to compensate those harmed by the fighting and for a census to be taken to prepare for elections expected in the country by January.

The US military has repeatedly said it is acting at Allawi’s behest and would follow his orders.

Al-Sadr’s top aides, usually very accessible to the media could not be reached for comment on the deal. Many appeared to have turned off their phones.

But al-Sistani aide Hamed al-Khafaf announced al-Sadr’s acceptance and suggested that by 10am on Friday fighters from his Mahdi Army militia would leave the Imam Ali Shrine, the holy site they have used as a stronghold and refuge throughout the fighting.

The shrine, in Najaf’s Old City, has been the centre of fighting, and US troops have tried to avoid damaging it, fearing it would anger Shiites.

The city had been wracked by fierce fighting for weeks, but it fell largely quiet amid today’s ceasefire.

One platoon of US soldiers was holed up in an office block, poking weapons out of broken windows and scanning devastated streets for any signs of militants.

A handful took advantage of the quiet to sleep – a relative luxury after days of fierce clashes.

Al-Sistani’s immense moral authority brings more hope for this peace plans than previous ones.

He has consistently opposed violence. He has also bucked the authority of the United States in the past, giving him credibility in the eyes of Shiites who consider the current Iraqi government beholden to the United States.

Thousands of Iraqis flocked to Najaf on Thursday after al-Sistani called for a peace march to the city. But the Iraqi government’s police did not let them enter the holy city.

Later, al-Sistani asked the government to allow the demonstrators to visit the Imam Ali Shrine compound provided they leave by 10 am on Friday, al-Khafaf said.

Al-Sistani’s 30-vehicle convoy had driven 220 miles from the southern city of Basra to Najaf, joined by at least a thousand cars from towns along the way, where supporters on the street cheered the ayatollah.

From Wednesday morning until Thursday morning, 55 people were killed and 376 injured during clashes in Najaf, the Health Ministry said. At least 40 people have been killed in Kufa over the same period, including the victims in the mosque.