US strikes agreement to end offensive in Iraq’s holy city
Coalition forces will pull out of most of Najaf once Iraqi security forces re-enter the city and assume control of strategic buildings from al-Sadr's militia, coalition spokesman Dan Senor said in Baghdad.
"Until that time, coalition forces will suspend offensive operations but will continue to provide security by carrying out presence patrols," he said.
Once Iraqi security forces move in, US troops will "reposition" outside the city, though units will remain in coalition offices, government buildings and Iraqi police stations.
Iraqi leaders had urged the US to accept the agreement, although it does not require al-Sadr immediately to disband his militia and surrender to authorities to face charges in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric key US demands.
Instead, the future of al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army and the status of the arrest warrant will be discussed between the cleric and the Shiite leaders.
That makes it unlikely that either step will be taken until sovereignty transfers from the coalition to a new Iraqi government at the end of next month.
For weeks, US officials publicly denigrated al-Sadr as a "thug" and said the mission of US forces was to "kill or capture" him.
A Shiite member of the Governing Council, Abdul- Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi, warned that arresting al-Sadr would lead to "an unending revolution".
The announcement came after days of heavy fighting in and around Najaf that damaged Shia Islam's holiest site, the Imam Ali Shrine.
US officials accused al-Sadr followers of causing the minor damage but it highlighted the danger that the crackdown on al-Sadr could anger Shiites.
By hiding and firing in mosques, relatively few al-Sadr fighters were able to hold out in this centre of Shiite theology and scholarship, knowing the US could not afford the political damage of an all-out assault at a time when their aggressive tactics were under fire.
Three Shiite members of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council Salama al-Khafaji, Ahmad Chalabi and al-Mohammedawi arrived in Najaf to firm up the agreement with al-Sadr and encourage the US to pull out of the city.
The three condemned the "continuation of military operations" and called on the US "to stop being stubborn and abandon unattainable demands" in dealing with al-Sadr.
The three plan to stage a sit-in at the Sahla mosque in nearby Kufa until the Americans leave, al-Khafaji said.
US soldiers raided the mosque last weekend, seizing weapons stored there by al-Sadr's fighters.
Iraq's national security adviser Mouwafak al- Rubaie, a Shiite, declined to say whether the talks could lead to throwing out charges against al-Sadr or even the disbandment of his militia.
