Al-Sadr backs down in face of imminent attack

REBEL Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr backed down last night in the face of a looming Iraqi army assault on a holy shrine in Najaf where his gunmen have been holding out.

As the army was preparing for its offensive, al-Sadr suddenly accepted a peace plan to end the fighting in Najaf. However, al-Sadr wanted to negotiate how the deal would be implemented, said his spokesman Sheik Hassan al-Athari.

The cleric’s decision came just hours after Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan said the government could raid the revered Imam Ali shrine to evict the militants.