Iraqis Sending Group to Seek Deal With Sadr

Iraqis who follow radical cleric Moqtada Sadr rally in Najaf, where they are acting as human shields for his militiamen. (Chris Helgren -- Reuters)

"We hope that he will accept" the terms, said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih. "This country has seen so much violence, so much bitterness. It's time that we seek a way out."

But if Sadr fails to comply, Salih said, the shrine "must be vacated of militants" with military force.

"That situation cannot be allowed to continue," he said.

Any recalcitrance by Sadr, many delegates say, could strengthen the hand of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi if he chooses to authorize the use of force. Sameer Shaker Sumaidaie, a Sunni Muslim who served as interior minister and as a member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council during the occupation, said the conference's communique gives Sadr a "clear choice."

"He has to say yes or no," Sumaidaie said. "If he does not say yes and he says no, then the government to a large extent will be absolved" if it has to use force.

Ahmed Shyaa Barak, a human rights lawyer and former Governing Council member, called the effort to negotiate with Sadr "a golden opportunity."

"We have good suggestions and a good delegation," he said. "I think they will be able to encourage him to agree."

Hussein Sadr, the cleric who drafted the communique, was far less optimistic. Asked whether he thought the younger Sadr would accept the demands, he shrugged. "We must try," he said.

After the participants approved the communique, one delegate stormed out of the hall in protest, growling that overnight clashes in Najaf suggested the government had not upheld its pledge to refrain from attacks on the shrine until negotiations had been exhausted.

"By besieging Najaf, is that a response to the representatives of the people at this conference?" said Falah Hassan Shanshel, a member of the Shiite Political Council. "I decide to withdraw from this conference and I wish to congratulate the others for contributing to the slaughter."

Even if Sadr agreed to disband his militia, the process of disarming and demobilizing its members would likely be long and complicated. U.S. officials say that many, if not most, members of the Mahdi Army are young men who joined not out of religious fervor but because the militia offered them a job and a chance to vent their anger at the U.S. occupation.

Jamal Benomar, the senior U.N. political adviser to the conference, said demobilization would require financial incentives, job-training programs and other measures the government has not implemented. Without such compensation, there would be little to dissuade the militiamen from regrouping.

"We learned the hard way at the U.N. from experiences in various other conflicts that peace agreements involving militia groups will require both political and rehabilitation measures," Benomar said. "The demobilization, disarmament and reintegration of armed combatants is a big challenge that requires planning, proper design, significant resources and monitoring. It doesn't happen overnight."

Conference organizers had wanted to send the delegation to Najaf on Monday afternoon. They requested a fleet of cars and a team of private security guards. (Iraqi policemen refused to accompany the delegates because they judged the trip too dangerous.) But after four hours passed -- and a down payment had been made -- there were no drivers or guards to be seen. At 7 p.m., the organizers chose to delay the mission until Tuesday morning.

Correspondent Karl Vick in Najaf and staff writer Jackie Spinner in Baghdad contributed to this report.