Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to withdraw his militia from Najaf and hand the city back to Iraqi police, the government said, raising hopes for an end to weeks of fighting with coalition forces.

American troops fought militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today in the southern city of Karbala, but the city of Najaf was relatively quiet following intense clashes yesterday.

A powerful Shiite member of Iraq’s US-picked Governing Council raged against the occupation of the country during a eulogy at the funeral of his murdered brother attended by almost half a million people today.

A crowd rushed two Islamic clerics and hacked them to death in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf today, witnesses said.