Shiite militia deploys in Iraq holy city amid reports of clashes nearby

NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - Shiite Muslim radical leader Moqtada Sadr's militia was out in force as pilgrims flocked to this Iraqi holy city amid reports of clashes with US troops in the adjacent shrine town of Kufa.

A Sadr aide said members of his banned Mehdi Army had repulsed the US force with assistance from local tribesmen.

But a spokesman for the US-led coalition said he had no immediate reports of a clash in Kufa, a radical stronghold where Sadr normally delivers the sermon at the main weekly prayers.

"Clashes took place in Kufa, on the east bank of the river (Euphrates), and we seized a Humvee that was abandoned there," Sadr spokesman Qais al-Khazaali told a press conference.

He said members of local tribes "and many members of the Mehdi Army" joined in the fight, forcing the Americans to flee.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&e=5&u=/afp/20040419/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_shiites_sadr_najaf_040419180949

Fallujah Cease fire excerpts below:-Native Iraqi investigations will check into 4 burned bodies... please... we give up on arresting anyone with our video evidence ..... and Sadr arrest warrant is forgotton as we drop the US manpower surrounding city from 2500 to 2000 and let Sadr claim victory.


EXCERTS: Following the initial meeting on 13 April 2004, the parties met again on 16, 17, and 19 April 2004 to consolidate progress made toward the achievement of a full cease-fire and a peaceful resolution of the situation in Fallujah.

All parties welcomed the improved situation in the city and committed themselves to take all possible measures, with all relevant parties, to implement a full and unbroken cease-fire, which they call on parties to faithfully observe. They recognize that in the absence of a true cease-fire, major hostilities could resume on short notice.

The parties agreed, that as a sign of goodwill, and to improve the humanitarian situation in Fallujah, Coalition Forces will allow unfettered access to the Fallujah General Hospital, to treat the sick and injured. The parties also agreed to arrange for the removal and burial of the dead and the provision of food and medicine in isolated areas of the city. The hours of the curfew will also be shortened so that the curfew will begin at 2100 (9 p.m.), rather than 1900 (7 p.m.) each night so that believers may fulfill their religious duties. Measures will also be put in place to facilitate the passage of official ambulances through the city, especially through checkpoints. Steps will also be taken to allow security, medical, and technical personnel access to the city to work. In due course, consideration will be given to allowing additional civilians to enter the city, beginning with fifty families per day commencing on 20 April.

In an initial effort to restore security in the city, the parties agreed to call on citizens and groups to immediately turn in all illegal weapons, illegal weapons defined as mortars, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), machine guns, sniper rifles, IED (roadside bomb)-making materials, grenades, and surface-to-air missiles and all associated ammunition. This collection has begun and the parties discussed ways to turn the weapons over to the Coalition. Those who give up their weapons voluntarily will not be prosecuted for weapons violation. Unarmed individuals will not be attacked.

The parties also agreed on the pressing need of restoring regular and routine patrols in the city by joint Coalition Forces / Iraqi Security Forces. The parties will oversee the reformation of the Iraqi Police Force and ICDC (Iraqi Civil Defense Corps) in the city on an urgent basis. These forces will be bolstered and improved. They will be formed primarily from residents of Fallujah, who are best placed to guarantee security in the city. The Police and ICDC, supported by the residents of Fallujah and Coalition Forces must move to eliminate remaining foreign fighters, criminals, and drug users from Fallujah, in order for stability and security to occur.

The parties agreed that Coalition Forces do not intend to resume offensive operations if all persons inside the city turn in their heavy weapons. Individual violators will be dealt with on an individual basis.

The parties reaffirmed the absolute need to restore law and order in the city as quickly as possible, to rebuild the judicial system, and to initiate thorough Iraqi investigations into criminal acts committed in the city in this period of instability, which includes the killing and mutilation of the four American contractors and the attack on the Iraqi Police Station in February.

Does anyone know how to put these two stories together in a way that fits?

Myers said Sadr had largely been marginalized.

"His militia has either melted away or been killed or captured," Myers said.

link: http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-iraq19apr19,1,635337.story

So our objective was to kill or capture him, we surrounded his base, but somehow he's marginalized without a shot fired in anger ?

I am totally amazed. Myers and the Army backed down. The whole world knows it too.

We arrest no-one -in either city, and in the cease fire we agree to a good faith effort by the city fathers to find the folks that killed and burned our folks.

Sadr - they kill a few more GI's in last 48 hours - so we decrease force size from 2500 to 2000.

not yet been swatted?