Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen to disarm but said yesterday he will maintain elite fighting units to resist the Americans if a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops is not established.

Members of a Shiite Muslim militia raided a house in Baghdad and freed four hostages including Syrian and Lebanese citizens, an official in radical cleric’s Muqtada al-Sadr office said today.

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

Gunmen opened fire today on thousands of Shiite Muslim marchers heading from Kufa to the twin city of Najaf, killing at least one.