Iraq: Agreement struck to end fighting in Sadr City

The agreement represents a back down from confrontation by both rival Iraqi Shiite factions. It was reached amid rumours of a major offensive into Sadr City by US and government troops and political moves in the parliament to prohibit the Sadrists from participating in the October provincial elections. Had either attack on the Sadrists proceeded, its leadership would have come under enormous pressure from its working class, anti-occupation social base to call for a wholesale uprising against the US forces and the Maliki government.

The 14-point terms stipulate that the Sadrist Mahdi Army militia must leave the streets by Tuesday and cease all rocket and mortar attacks on occupation and Iraqi government forces. The militiamen, however, do not have to hand in their weaponsone of the central demands previously made by Maliki for an end to the siege. Roadblocks will be lifted to allow food and other emergency aid into the suburb, and the checkpoints monitoring traffic in and out of Sadr City will be manned by Iraqi police, not American troops. For the moment, all talk of politically disenfranchising the Sadrists has ceased. The Sadrist movement holds 30 of the 275 seats in the national parliament and is expected to poll well in provincial elections, particularly in areas like Sadr City.