IRAQ: Moqtada al-Sadr, the rebel Shia cleric who has led uprisings across Iraq, said yesterday he was ready to disband his militia, although he still opposed the US occupation.
His comments came after US troops attacked his gunmen in the holy city of Kerbala, killing up to 25 near a mosque they had been using to store weapons.
Mr Sadr (30) has come under intense political pressure as the US military has moved against his fighters in Kerbala and Najaf, further south. Iraq's mainstream Shia parties have tried to convince the young cleric to disband his militia, the Jaish al-Mahdi.
An apparent deal is being struck, under which many of the gunmen would be absorbed into a legal Iraqi force that would take over security of the two holy cities and allow the US military to withdraw. A similar agreement was reached last month to end the fighting in the troubled Sunni city of Falluja, west of Baghdad.
"The dissolution of the Mahdi army depends on the religious authorities. If they issue an edict to disband the Mahdi army then we will disband it," Mr Sadr told a rare news conference at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf yesterday.
But he continued his criticism of the US military occupation. "Their presence in Iraq is not peace and will lead to the spread of terrorism," he said.
"Look at what your army has done at the behest of its leaders - torture of all kinds," he said. "Are those who came to remove Saddam becoming just the same as Saddam?"
US officials still want the cleric to face murder charges related to the killing of a moderate cleric in Najaf in April last year.
Yesterday US tanks surrounded a mosque in Kerbala where gunmen from the militia have been holed up for several days. Half of the Mukhaiyam mosque was destroyed and seven hotels nearby were on fire after tanks attacked the area. The area is just a mile from the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the most important sites in Shia Islam.
There were also clashes in the town of Kufa, on the outskirts of Najaf. At least one Iraqi was killed and four were injured. Four more were wounded inside Najaf.
A month ago Mr Sadr led uprisings across southern Iraq, but his popularity has faded dramatically.
Earlier this week there were protests by Iraqis in Najaf demanding he pull his gunmen out of the city, one of the holiest sites in the Shia faith.
Three mortar rounds were fired at the Italian embassy in Baghdad last night but the building was not damaged, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.