Deal Reached to End Fighting in Sadr City

Agreement Reported by Aide to Cleric

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U.S. soldiers stand near a hole that damaged the roof of the BBC headquarters in Baghdad after a rocket attack Friday, May 9, 2008. A rocket hit the BBC office in Baghdad on Friday but no one was wounded in the attack, the British broadcaster said. (AP Photo/Sabah al-Bazee,Pool) (Sabah Al-bazee - AP)

U.S. Army soldier gives directions to a crane operator, not seen, during the construction of a concrete wall running through the Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Baghdad, on Friday, May 9, 2008. The 12-foot concrete barrier is being built along a main street dividing southern Sadr city from north, where Mahdi army fighters are concentrated. U.S. commanders hope the wall will effectively cut off insurgents ability to move freely around Baghdad and hamper their ability to fire rockets at the Green Zone, where Government offices are concentrated. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) (Petr David Josek - AP)

Iraqis chant anti-U.S. slogans after a prayer in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 9, 2008. Thousands of people have fled the fierce battles between the US and Iraqi forces and the Mahdi army in Sadr City. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)

Men gather at the site of an airstrike site in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 10, 2008. Hospitals in Sadr City reported Saturday that at least 13 people had been killed and 77 wounded in the past 24 hours during the clashes between the U.S. and Iraqi government forces and the Mahdi army fighters. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)

The wife of Jassim Abdul Hussein, right, mourns over his body at a morgue in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, Iraq, Saturday, May 10, 2008. Hussein was killed during clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City on Friday. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani) (Alaa Al-marjani - AP)

Relatives march during the funeral of Sattar Khalaf and Mohammed Jassim, who were killed in an airstrike in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 10, 2008. Hospitals in Sadr City reported Saturday that at least 13 people had been killed and 77 wounded in the past 24 hours during the clashes between the U.S. and Iraqi government forces and the Mahdi army fighters. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)

Relatives mourn for Sattar Khalaf, who was killed in an airstrike in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 10, 2008. Hospitals in Sadr City reported Saturday that at least 13 people had been killed and 77 wounded in the past 24 hours during the clashes between the US and Iraqi government forces and the Mahdi army fighters. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)

A woman reacts at the scene of an airstrike in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 10, 2008. Hospitals in Sadr City reported Saturday that at least 13 people had been killed and 77 wounded in the past 24 hours, during the clashes between the U.S. and Iraqi government forces and the Mahdi army fighters. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)

A U.S. Army soldier patrols the Shiite enclave of Sadr City, where Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia has been fighting Shiite-led, U.S. backed forces. (By Petr David Josek -- Associated Press)

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By Sholnn Freeman and Ernesto Londoño

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, May 11, 2008; Page A21

BAGHDAD, May 10 -- A top aide to Moqtada al-Sadr said Saturday that the influential Shiite cleric had reached an agreement with lawmakers aligned with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to end fighting in the Sadr City district of the capital.

The aide, Salah al-Obaidi, said Sadr agreed to take his Mahdi Army militia off the streets as early as Sunday in exchange for restrictions on raids and arrests. The agreement also includes provisions to reopen roads into Sadr City and expand government humanitarian assistance, he said.

Obaidi said the deal was reached after several days of discussions between leaders in Sadr's political movement and the United Iraqi Alliance, the majority bloc in Iraq's parliament.

Ali Dabbagh, chief spokesman for Maliki, said the government supported the agreement but would continue a security operation aimed at ridding Sadr City of gunmen and heavy weapons.

U.S. military officials did not respond to requests for comment about the truce, and Dabbagh said the agreement did not include language calling for the withdrawal of American troops from Sadr City.

Violent clashes have erupted almost daily in Sadr City since late March, leaving as many as 500 people dead and 2,100 injured. The conflict has pitted Sadr, who also leads one of Iraq's most popular Shiite political organizations, against Shiite-led government forces backed by the U.S. military.

The U.S. military has said it has killed more than 200 fighters in the past month in the area, where it says militiamen have fired hundreds of rockets and mortars at U.S. and Iraqi targets.

Meanwhile, Maliki launched an operation Saturday in northern Iraq to crack down on Sunni insurgents who flocked to the city of Mosul after being run out of other provinces.

The operation, dubbed Lion's Roar, started at 4 a.m. with what Iraqi security forces described as a series of intelligence-driven raids targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups.

Lt. Gen. Riyadh Jalal Tawifq said the operation was a continuation of a months-long effort to restore security in Mosul and outlying areas in Nineveh province, where attacks have spiked in recent months as violence in adjacent provinces has decreased.

Jalal said he does not anticipate that the operation will trigger clashes but said that would not be an unwelcome scenario. "They would be exposed, and we would finish them," he said.

During the first day of the operation, Iraqi soldiers detained at least 124 people, according to U.S. military officials.

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