One of Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s senior aides ordered his Mehdi Army militiamen on Thursday to observe a ceasefire after they clashed with United States soldiers in the southern city of Kut. Mehdi Army militiamen battled Iraqi and US forces on Tuesday in clashes that police said killed 11 people.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered an investigation on Monday into a case of food poisoning that left hundreds of policemen ill. It was not clear if the poisoning of at least 350 police was deliberate, but police sources said they arrested four cooks suspected of tampering with food.