IRAQ:Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki said yesterday his security forces would stop arresting militiamen if they gave up their weapons, apparently seeking to defuse tensions with Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
In a statement, Mr Maliki said he would grant amnesty from prosecution to anyone who took part in clashes in southern Iraq and Baghdad last week if they handed in their guns.
The statement appeared to soften Mr Maliki's position from Thursday, when at a news conference he threatened a crackdown on Mr al-Sadr's strongholds in Baghdad in the wake of some of Iraq's heaviest street fighting in a year.
Defence ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Mohammed al-Askari said about 1,000 Iraqi soldiers had deserted during the fighting in Basra, something that will concern Washington.
In a sign of the volatility that persists despite an end to major fighting, a British military spokesman said US helicopters had launched a missile strike in Basra. Eyewitnesses said there were casualties and clashes followed the attack.
Gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at a convoy carrying Mr al-Askari and other senior Iraqi commanders in Basra.
Iraq's violence last week was mostly in Shia areas in the south and in Baghdad. But in a reminder of the threat from militants in Sunni Arab areas in the north, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral yesterday in Diyala province. The attack killed nine people and wounded 30 others, an Iraqi security official said.