An offensive against Shi’ite militiamen in the holy city of Najaf would be launched within hours unless radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr publicly disarmed his Mehdi Army, Iraqi Minister of State Kassem Daoud said on Thursday.
”The Iraqi government has laid down conditions that Moqtada al-Sadr must promise in a press conference not to resort to violence in the future and that the Mehdi Army is to be dissolved,” Daoud told a news conference in Najaf.
The fiery cleric must also submit names of all people tried by his religious courts and release all detainees, including Iraqi police, soldiers and national guardsmen, ”otherwise the coming hours will be decisive,” he added.
”We have been preparing for a military offensive for five days to put an end to this crisis,” the minister said. – Sapa-AFP