The governor of Najaf said on Tuesday a fresh truce has been reached between United States-led coalition forces and the militia of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in an effort to end weeks of battles.
US troops will halt patrols in the city and withdraw to five bases in Najaf, chiefly outside the governor’s office and the police headquarters.
”The coalition forces have agreed that within a 72-hour truce, all Mehdi [Army] militiamen are to pull out of Najaf. All Mehdi Army elements who are not residents of Najaf will leave the city,” Adnan al-Zorfi said.
Militiamen from elsewhere in Iraq will return to their cities and hand over their weapons to centres set up by coalition forces.
Iraqi forces will take over responsibility for security, he said.
”No US patrols will be conducted inside the holy cities, but there will be jointly led Iraqi police-coalition patrols conducted outside the holy cities,” he added.
The governor said the agreement has been relayed to him by Ambassador Christopher Ross, a US diplomat for regional affairs.
”I think this agreement will be the end of the crisis,” Zorfi said, adding that al-Sadr has been informed of its details.
Zorfi said US forces are prepared to buy weapons from militiamen at a rate of $100 for a Kalashnikov and $150 for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
About 20 militiamen, two US soldiers and an Iraqi mother were killed in fighting late on Sunday near the neighbouring Shi’ite city of Kufa in breach of a five-day-old truce.
A governing council representative announced the fresh deal late on Monday, in which the US military will stop patrols around the Najaf and Kufa for 48 hours and for police to redeploy.
Coalition officials, military commanders, Shi’ite leaders and the Najaf governor hatched the arrangements in an effort to salvage the tattered truce, Haidar al-Sufi, a representative of governing council member Ahmed Barak, told reporters in Najaf. — Sapa-AFP