Sadr the murderer now finally withdrawing after hundreds of his followers died only condition that the murder case is to be withdrawn, it was not a war of freedom for him, it was war to get him off the hook, these leaders are ruthless they can go to any extent, for them their followers are cannon fodder, now that Sistani refused to support him, Shiite south in majority remained aloof, his tactics to destroy Imam's shrine and blame it on US backfired, Sadr like Fallujah needed hard presence and no appeasement, that will work.
Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, quoting a statement signed by Sadr, told Reuters the cleric was willing to pull members of his Mehdi Army militia who are not normally resident in Najaf out of the city and had demanded in return that a murder case for which he is wanted be suspended.
For the first time in days there were no major clashes overnight. As armed men began moving from positions, one squad leader, Ali Abu Zahra, said he had formal instructions from Sadr to move his unit out: "It was a written and verbal order."
There was no immediate response from the U.S. authorities in Iraq, who have dismissed previous truce offers and said Sadr must face a murder charge and disband his forces.
U.S. troops seized a relative and senior lieutenant to Sadr early on Wednesday, who was also wanted over the same murder. |
