Fighting moves to Sadr city

IRAQ: The confrontation between the US forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shifted to Baghdad…

IRAQ: The confrontation between the US forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shifted to Baghdad yesterday, writes James Drummond in Baghdad and Bartle Bull in Najaf.

Despite a peace accord in the holy city of Najaf last week, Baghdad's Sadr city neighbourhood, home to up to two million Iraqis, saw fierce clashes between US troops and Mr Sadr's forces over the weekend, according to residents. The area remains effectively out of US and Iraqi interim government control.

Yesterday's talks, which sought to organise a permanent ceasefire in the area akin to that in Najaf, were suspended.

The Sadr city meeting came amid fears on the part of Mr Allawi's government and the US military that Mr Sadr's fighters who have left Najaf will take up arms in their home towns. The terms of the Sadr city negotiations were not disclosed, but it is likely that local Iraqi leaders were demanding the withdrawal of US forces from the area.

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For their part the Iraqi government and the US military want to see Mr Sadr's al-Mahdi militia formally disbanded - a notable omission from the Najaf agreement.

Mr Allawi was in combative form when he spoke to local television on Saturday following the Najaf agreement.

"The government will not permit private armed groups to operate outside Najaf. We will confront this with force," he said.

Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades from a mosque at US troops in northern Iraq yesterday in clashes that killed two attackers and wounded more than 30 civilians, the US military said.

Meanwhile, attacks were taking a toll on the country's oil industry, with exports running lower than normal yesterday.