The US agreed to suspend offensive operations in Najaf yesterday after Iraqi leaders struck a deal with radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to end a bloody stand-off threatening some of Iraq's holiest Shia shrines.
Coalition forces will pull out of most of Najaf once Iraqi security forces re-enter the city and assume control of strategic buildings from al-Sadr's militia, a coalition spokesman said in Baghdad.
Iraqi leaders had urged the Americans to accept the agreement, although it does not require al-Sadr immediately to disband his militia and surrender to face charges in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric - key US demands to end the stand-off.
Instead, the future of al-Sadr's army and the status of the arrest warrant will be discussed by the cleric and Shia religious and political leaders. That makes it unlikely that either step will be taken until sovereignty transfers to a new government at the end of next month.