Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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March 30, 2008

Iraq's Al-Sadr Calls on Shi'ite Fighters to Stop Fighting Gov't Forces
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1BB5A79:A6F02AD83191E1606361678EAA2B46B170AD7039DCD7B7E4& The fighting has
killed more than 250 people in Iraq's southern city of Basra, Baghdad,
and other mainly Shi'ite areas since Tuesday





Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr (file)

Iraq's radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is calling on his Mahdi
Army militia fighters to withdraw from street battles with Iraqi
government and coalition forces.

The fighting has killed more than 250 people in Iraq's southern city
of Basra, Baghdad, and other mainly Shi'ite areas since Tuesday.

In a statement released Sunday by his aides, al-Sadr ordered his armed
followers to leave the streets in Basra and all other provinces. He
says he made the call because he feels a responsibility to stop the
shedding of Iraqi blood.

Al-Sadr also urged Iraq's government to stop arrest raids against his
followers and grant them an amnesty.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh welcomed al-Sadr's statement
as "positive." But the spokesman says Iraqi forces will continue
operations in Basra against what he calls "criminal" elements.

The statement issued by al-Sadr's office in the Iraqi city of Najaf
says any militiaman who carries weapons and targets government
institutions will not be considered part of his group.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched an offensive against
Shi'ite militiamen in Basra Tuesday, and the fighting quickly spread
to Baghdad and other regions.

In other violence today, a suicide car bomber killed five U.S.-allied
Iraqi security volunteers at a checkpoint in the town of Siniya north
of Baghdad. Also north of the capital, gunmen attacked an Iraqi police
patrol in Dhuluiyah, killing five officers.

Elsewhere, gunmen killed two Iraqi policemen in the northern city of
Mosul. Insurgents also tried to assassinate a provincial council chief
in the northern province of Diyala. The Iraqi official survived but
two of his bodyguards were killed.

And the U.S. military says troops killed 14 insurgents today in
several battles in Baghdad. 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP, Reuters.




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