Clashes Pierce Iraqi Cease-Fires

Shiite political and religious leaders have sought to convince Sadr, the son of a revered religious figure assassinated during the rule of former president Saddam Hussein, that he should transform his militia into a political movement and take part in efforts to form a new government for postwar Iraq.

Discussions between his group and religious leaders in Najaf have been underway since the cease-fire began, but so far without result. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's most influential cleric, met with the young upstart last Saturday as part of the effort to draw him into the political process.

Vice President Ibrahim Jafari, who heads the Shiite-based Dawa party, said the U.S. decision to confront Sadr a little over two months ago because of his opposition to the occupation was a mistake. Now, after fighting that cost hundreds of lives, the way to repair the rift is to bring Sadr and his followers into the government or, failing that, persuade them to oppose the government peacefully, he said.

"If we cannot convince them to come into the government, then we should persuade them to convert to a political opposition, using the language of dialogue and not the language of arms," Jafari said in an interview. "We should not push them to the other side."

The same is true of the Sunni Muslim gunmen who have taken over Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, he said. After fighting the Fallujah militias for weeks and vowing to attack the city to bring it under control, U.S. Marines pulled back and ushered in a security force under the command of a former Iraqi general.

"The solution now is a political solution," Jafari said.

Jafari said his advice along these lines was not heeded by U.S. military commanders and the U.S. administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, when the original decisions were made to go after Sadr and try to crush resistance in Fallujah.

The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority and the new interim government issued an order Tuesday declaring all Iraqi militias illegal and barring their leaders or members from holding office for three years. Sadr's Mahdi Army was left out of the negotiations that led to the order, which were underway as he fought U.S. occupation forces. As a result, his movement was outlawed, and he and his followers were banned from running for office or entering the government.

Jafari said Sadr's group may be asked to send envoys to a 1,000-member convention of Iraqi political groups that will meet next month to pick a provisional national assembly. "Any part of Iraqi society should be invited," he said.

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, meanwhile, estimated that anti-occupation insurgents have caused $200 million in damage to the Iraqi oil industry in the past seven months, attacking pipelines and other installations about 130 times. Allawi, speaking before a government meeting in Baghdad, said those who sabotage Iraqi oil equipment were "terrorists and foreign fighters," not the anti-U.S. patriots they claim to be.

Insurgents attacked a major pipeline in northern Iraq on Wednesday as part of their campaign to shake Allawi's interim government. As a result of the damage, Oil Ministry officials estimated the country's electricity production would sag by 10 percent. Lack of electricity has been one of post-Hussein Iraq's main headaches, and one of the most important reasons for popular disenchantment with the U.S. occupation.

[The U.S. military announced on Friday that a U.S. soldier died of wounds sustained during an attack in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, according to the Reuters news service. Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack, the news service reported, citing a military statement.]

Special correspondent Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.