Looks like Bush is backing away from killing or capturing Sadr

US set to reduce troops outside Najaf

Staff and agencies
Monday April 19, 2004

The US military today announced plans to cut the size of the force it has built up outside the holy city of Najaf.
The development comes amid signs of progress in talks to end the tense standoff with radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Colonel Dana Pittard, commander of the 2,500-strong 3rd Brigade Task Force outside Najaf - where Mr Sadr is holed up with hundreds of his Mahdi Army fighters - said the force would be withdrawn over the coming days, and would be replaced by around 2,000 soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division.

The development is the latest sign that the US commanders, who are eager to avoid a costly battle in the city, could be preparing to back away from their pledge to "kill or capture" Mr Sadr.

With US marines in western Iraq facing the deadliest guerrilla resistance since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year, and with Spain poised to pull its 1,400 troops out of central Shia regions, the US military is wary of enraging Iraqis by sending troops into one of the most sacred cities in Shia Islam.

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