Sadr sets ceasefire conditions

2004-08-13 17:09

Najaf, Iraq - Shiite Muslim rebel chief Moqtada Sadr laid down a list of conditions for an end to more than a week of deadly clashes pitting his militia against US troops and Iraqi forces, a spokesperson said on Friday.

Sheikh Ali Sumeisim spelled out the conditions - notably for the withdrawal of the US-led forces and handover of Najaf to the Marjayia, the Shiite religious authority - during a news conference at a hotel in the besieged Shiite holy city of Najaf in central Iraq.

If all multinational forces, Iraqi police and soldiers leave Najaf and the Marjayia agrees to take responsibility for the city, "the Mehdi Army would pull out from Najaf", Sumeisim said, while stressing they refused to disarm.

All basic services must be restored in Najaf, and Sadr's Mehdi Army recognised as an ideological movement with its members allowed to carry weapons for selfdefence, Sumeisim continued.

Those jailed for supporting the resistance, all imprisoned clerics and women must also be released from prison, the spokesman added.

Resistance fighters must no longer be persecuted and Sadr's organisation should be allowed to decide for itself whether it becomes a political movement, under the conditions.

"All followers of Sadr's movement should be under a legitimate constitution written by a free, elected government," Sumeisim said.

"Lastly, all efforts should be aimed at building a free, independent, unified Iraq," he added.

Meanwhile, a Mehdi Army leader described Sadr's health as satisfactory after he was lightly wounded early Friday while inspecting his fighters.

- AFP