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BAGHDAD - The political movement of Iraqi cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr said it would end a two-month boycott of parliament today, smoothing over a rift with its Shi'ite allies in the US-backed government.
The political reconciliation with a group viewed with suspicion in Washington came the day after US forces suffered one of their deadliest days in Iraq. A total of 19 soldiers were killed, including 12 on a helicopter and five in a clash in a Shi'ite holy city that the US military blamed on militiamen.
Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been under pressure to crack down on the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to Sadr that the United States sees as the biggest threat to security in Iraq. But his past dependence on Sadr's political support has made that difficult.
The Sadrists announced a boycott in November to press their demand for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and to protest against a meeting between Maliki and US President George W Bush.
"We are ending our boycott of the ministries and the parliament," Bahaa al-Araji, a senior member of the Sadrist group, told a news conference with the ruling Shi'ite Alliance.
Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said an all-party committee would discuss calls for a timetable for US troops to withdraw and the renewal of the UN mandate for the US presence in Iraq, which has in the past been at the request of Baghdad.
"This is a new beginning," he told the news conference. "We want to say to the world that an Iraqi solution for Iraqi problems is the key, and others must support these solutions."
The US military today revised the number killed in Saturday's Black Hawk helicopter crash from 13 to 12. It said another five soldiers were killed and three wounded in the clash at a government building in Kerbala.
It was unclear whether the helicopter was shot down. US military spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Josslyn Aberle said the cause was still under investigation.
Two other soldiers were killed elsewhere on Saturday.
It was the deadliest day for US forces since Bush announced he was sending about 20,000 more troops to Iraq to try to prevent all-out sectarian civil war between Shi'ite Muslims and the once-dominant Sunni Arab minority.
His plans have run into resistance from opposition Democrats who now control Congress and scepticism in Washington about how far Maliki can make good on promises to disarm Shi'ite militias.
The US military said on Sunday a brigade of around 3,200 soldiers had arrived in Baghdad, the first of some 17,000 planned reinforcements for the city, and it would be fully operational by the start of February.
The Kerbala clash came as pilgrims converged on the city 110 km south of Baghdad at the start of the 10-day rite of Ashura, a high point of the Shi'ite calendar and a previous target for attacks by al Qaeda and other Sunni militants.
"The Provincial Joint Coordination Centre in Kerbala was attacked with grenades, small arms and indirect fire by an illegally armed militia group," the US military said in a statement, apparently blaming Shi'ite militiamen rather than Sunni insurgents to whom it usually refers as "terrorists".
"Five US soldiers were killed and three wounded while repelling the attack," it said without mentioning attackers killed or detained.
US officials said no more about the identity of the assailants. "We do know they're militiamen but we're not going to go any further than that," Major Steven Lamb said, adding investigations were continuing.
Kerbala Governor Aqil al-Khazali said it appeared the attackers were masquerading as Americans, but did not identify them. He said 8,000 police and soldiers were on hand to provide security for Ashura.
Relations have become strained between Washington and the Iraqi government as the United States presses Baghdad to rein in Shi'ite militias blamed for death squad killings and tries to limit the influence of neighbouring Shi'ite Iran.
Maliki vowed this month to crack down on both Shi'ite and Sunni gunmen in a major US-backed operation. Sadr enjoys a mass following in Iraq and some backing from Iran.
In other violence today, a roadside bomb killed one British soldier and wounded four in the southern city of Basra, the British military said.
- REUTERS
