BAGHDAD —

Militants were withdrawing from the streets and shops were reopening on the first day of a cease-fire between Shiite extremists and U.S.-backed Iraqi forces following two months of intense clashes.

Authorities in Baghdad’s Sadr City reported no violence Sunday.

“Today, people are very happy and very optimistic,” said Sadiq Jaafar, a 30-year-old father. “Last night for the first time in more than 40 days we were able to sleep without being woken up by explosions or gunfire.”

The government said it retained the right to chase wanted militants and search houses in order to confiscate weapons. The U.S. military has made no comment on the reported cease-fire.

Thousands of civilians have fled their homes in the teeming slum — home to nearly 40 percent of Baghdad’s population — and aid groups said some areas are desperately short of food and medicine after seven weeks of street battles.

Followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who was apparently instrumental in brokering the cease-fire, distributed food in the neighborhood Sunday, residents said.

The bulk of al-Sadr’s 60,000-strong Mahdi Army is not believed to have participated in the clashes, instead adhering to a general cease-fire ordered by al-Sadr last August. The violence is blamed on splinter groups believed to be acting on their own. Al-Sadr has directed his supporters to only fight when attacked.

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has called on al-Sadr to disband the Mahdi Army and vowed to disarm its members.

“We have concerns about this agreement,” a senior commander of the Mahdi Army, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said Sunday. “When U.S.-led forces enter the area, we fear that they will pursue us.”

The commander spoke by telephone from the most troubled southern part of the district, where U.S. and Iraqi forces are building a barrier — reaching up to 12 feet high — to isolate it and disrupt supply and escape routes for militants.

During the clashes, Shiite extremists fired rockets or mortars from the area toward the heavily fortified Green Zone, housing the U.S. embassy and much of the Iraqi government offices. They often fell short, killing or wounding civilians in downtown Baghdad.

The latest conflict flared in late March after al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on armed Shiite factions in the southern city of Basra, the nation’s second-largest urban area. Mahdi fighters quickly rose up in Basra and Sadr City, their stronghold in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military on Sunday said four people, including a woman and a child, were killed in an operation against al-Qaida in Iraq near the northern city of Mosul on Saturday.

The military regretted killing “civilians” in the operation against what was described as associates of foreign al-Qaida fighters. The woman and the child were riding in the same vehicle with the gunmen, it said.

Iraq’s security forces on Saturday launched a new operation against al-Qaida in Mosul, which was considered the last important urban staging ground for al-Qaida in Iraq after losing its strongholds in Baghdad and other areas during the U.S. troop “surge” last year.

About 140 people have been arrested in raids and some 120 roadside bombs were seized in a house in western Mosul, a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Sunday.

The military on Sunday also announced that one U.S. soldier was killed when the vehicle he was traveling in rolled over near al-Asad, home to the second largest air base in Iraq.

Sunday’s announcement raises the number of the U.S. military losses in Iraq to at least 4,075 since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. 

AFP

10 Comments

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  rjd_jr at 07:30 AM JST - 11th May

  Scary, all it takes is one fickle individual and group. Let's see how long this "deal" lasts, probably as long as the other "deals." If history has taught us anything, these guys are not to be trusted for any meaningful length of time.

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  some14some at 07:35 AM JST - 11th May

  These are special deals in Islamic countries, same thing is happening in Afghanistan, Pakistan and now probably in Beirut, i would term these deals as 'muslim brotherhood'...

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  nucular at 11:47 AM JST - 11th May

  In other words - Mookie lost, the new Iraqi gov't won.

  The disappointment in the media and on the Left is something to behold.

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  rjd_jr at 12:08 PM JST - 11th May

  Funny how people seem to throw labels such as left wing, right wing, liberal, conservative, etc. etc. automatically. Just because one is against this isanity doesn't make one a liberal or a conservative, enlightened people of all ages feel the same way. A common tactic for the ultra pro war supporters is to label those against the war as being disappointed when ostensibly positive news or developments is reported in the media. That's not half the story. The disappointment comes from those of us who know better than the B.S. that comes from that country day in, day out. How many times has positive developments been reported which has done absolutely nothing to stop the senseless loss of American/coalition lives. The vote, the constitution, zarqawi dead, surge "succcess," etc. etc. etc. etc., it goes on and on and on. And people keep dying. After 5 years this government is worthless, and they have won nothing. It is Sadr that controls everything. Much of the Bush administration can be blamed for this mess post occupation, but after 5 years you figure even a group of chimpanzees can form a thriving, stable and most basic of government functions.

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  Sarge at 12:13 PM JST - 11th May

  "Iraqi soldiers backed by U.S. troops began a "new phase" in operations against al-Qaida in Iraq"

  Al-Qaida in Iraq is in trouble.

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  nucular at 05:28 PM JST - 11th May

  rjd jr : "Funny how people seem to throw labels such as left wing, right wing, liberal, conservative, etc. etc. automatically. Just because one is against this isanity doesn't make one a liberal or a conservative, enlightened people of all ages feel the same way. A common tactic for the ultra pro war supporters is to label those against the war as being disappointed when ostensibly positive news or developments is reported in the media. "

  ("Ultra pro-war supporter" - there's a nice neutral designation for anyone who disagrees with you...)

  Look, it's pretty simple here: Sadr is backed by Iran. He runs there whenever in trouble. He is not an elected leader but he leads an army of thugs and criminals preying on ordinary Iraqis.

  I'm with Maliki, as imperfect as he and his cabinet may be.

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  proxy at 06:47 PM JST - 11th May

  Get with it nucular, Iran is backing every horse in the race, they win no matter who gets their nose across. Iran has important interests in Iraq, of course they want to influence things, its nuts to think they shouldn't have an interest in how things turn out in a country that they fought a bloody war with and share a long history with.

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  SushiSake3 at 09:55 PM JST - 11th May

  nucular - "Look, it's pretty simple here: Sadr is backed by Iran."

  Huh? Did you just believe that because you read it in a White House press release????

  Unbelievable.....

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  adaydream at 11:33 PM JST - 11th May

  Like it or not Al-Sadr is a force to be reckonded with and the new Iraqi government will have to deal with him in a manner to keep certain insurgents under control.

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  skipthesong at 12:13 PM JST - 12th May

  sushi: Unless someone is lying, "Muqtada al-Sadr is of Lebanese ancestry. His great-grandfather is Ismail as-Sadr. Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, Muqtada al-Sadr's father, was a well-respected figure throughout the Shi'a Islamic world. He was murdered, along with two of his sons, allegedly by the government of Saddam Hussein."

  "Muqtada's father-in-law was executed by the Iraqi authorities in 1980. Muqtada is a cousin of the absented Imam Moussa as-Sadr, the Iranian-Lebanese founder of the popular Amal Movement"

  So, you think there is absolutely no support from Iran?

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