Protected by about 100 guards, Iraq’s interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has visited the war-shattered city of Najaf, calling on Shiite militants to lay down their weapons after days of fierce clashes with US forces.

Iraq’s interim leader said that diplomatic relations with neighbouring Syria, broken off since the 1980s, would be restored, and the two countries would form a committee to study security issues amid concern over terrorists sneaking into Iraq.