US forces agree to withdraw from Najaf

1.00pm

US forces yesterday agreed to withdraw from the Shia holy city of Najaf and end fighting with the militia of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

In a climbdown by the Americans, who had vowed to kill or capture Mr Sadr, it now appears he will be allowed to remain free. His Mehdi Army militia will also withdraw under the deal.

Confirmation of the withdrawal came admidst news that the son of a member of Iraq's United States-appointed governing council member was killed as they were returning from negotiations to end the fighting.

Salama al-Khafaji, from Iraq's majority Shi'ite community, was appointed to the council after the killing of another member, Akila al-Hashimi, in Baghdad last September.

Aides said the convoy came under fire near a river at Yusufiya, some 40km southwest of Baghdad, forcing the car carrying Khafaji's son, Ahmed, into the water.

The Americans appear to have given up their two main demands to end the fighting in Najaf: that Mr Sadr surrender to them and that the Mehdi Army be disbanded immediately.

The American agreement to withdraw without capturing Mr Sadr will be seen in Iraq as a second embarrassing capitulation in as many months, after US forces ended their April siege of the Sunni city of Falluja without capturing those responsible for killing and mutilating the bodies of four American contractors -- the original reason for the siege, in which hundreds of Iraqi civilians are believed to have died.

Civilians have died in Najaf, too, though not as many as in Falluja. There has been widespread anger in the Shia world at the fighting in the holy city, especially after Iraq's most sacred Shia shrine, that of Imam Ali, was damaged.

Members of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council who negotiated the deal with Mr Sadr said yesterday it included an agreement to hold new talks over an arrest warrant under which he is wanted for the murder of another cleric in 2003, and on the future of the Mehdi Army.

It remains to be seen whether the Americans, who have been demanding Mr Sadr surrender and face trial, will accept that. But the immediate threat to Mr Sadr appears to have been lifted.

The occupation authority's spokesman, Dan Senor, said that US forces would suspend their offensive in Najaf immediately, and withdraw as soon as Iraqi security forces are able to take control of the city -- an arrangement similar to Falluja, where local security forces took control.

Mohammed al-Musawi, a Shia leader who was involved in extensive efforts to arrange a peaceful end to the fighting in Najaf, claimed the deal included an agreement that Mr Sadr would not face any prosecution until after an elected Iraqi government takes office, which will not happen until next year.

He also said that under the deal the Mehdi Army would become a political organisation.

Whether Mr Sadr will get that much remains to be seen, but at any rate he appeared to have got the most out of yesterday's deal. It was a good result for him after scores of his militiamen were killed in the last few days alone.

The Americans may have agreed to the deal partly because of their need to calm the situation in Iraq ahead of the planned hand over of sovereignty to a new appointed Iraqi government on June 30.

But Mr Sadr also appeared to have outmanoeuvred the Americans. Until yesterday, their answer to any criticism for fighting inside the holy city was that Mr Sadr's militia had forced them into it by taking up positions there. But once Mr Sadr had publicly offered to withdraw his militia if US forces did the same, a refusal would have made them appear the ones responsible for further violence inside Najaf.

Last week the Americans appeared to agree a similar deal for both sides to withdraw from the other Shia holy city, Karbala, but flatly denied it afterwards.

This time Mr Sadr was not going to risk anything like that. He said his militia would not pull out until the Americans publicly accepted the deal.

Mr Sadr launched his Shia uprising in April after the American occupation authorities moved against him, closing a newspaper he ran and arresting one of his aides. The arrest warrant against him was only announced after his uprising began.

Mr Sadr's militia briefly took control of several Shia cities, before the Americans recaptured them. The cleric holed up in Najaf, where he appeared to be gambling US forces would not risk attacking him. At first they held off, but in recent weeks they went on the offensive in Najaf.

The Americans appeared to be banking on the fact that Mr Sadr does not enjoy widespread Shia support. But they got bogged down in fighting with the Mehdi Army, and with every day it continued they were risking a more general Shia backlash.

- INDEPENDENT and REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq