BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A deal to end fighting between militants and security forces in the Baghdad stronghold of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was largely holding on Sunday, but sporadic clashes between gunmen and U.S. forces continued.

Residents in Sadr City said there was no fighting overnight but that small clashes had flared up on Sunday, a day after Shi'ite political factions reached an agreement to end weeks of fighting that killed hundreds of people in the slum.

The conflict between U.S.-backed security forces and gunmen had trapped the 2 million residents of Sadr City in a battle zone and prompted aid workers to warn of a humanitarian crisis.

But deals to end battles between gunmen loyal to the anti-U.S. cleric and security forces have collapsed in the past. It is also unclear how much control Sadr has over many of the Mehdi Army militiamen who claim allegiance to him.

Officials at the two hospitals in Sadr City said they had received one body and treated 5 wounded people overnight. Before the deal was struck on Saturday, the two hospitals said 19 people had been killed and 116 wounded in the previous 24 hours.

The government has welcomed the deal, struck between the Sadr movement's bloc in parliament and the ruling Shi'ite alliance.

The U.S. military spokeswoman Jerry O'Hara also welcomed efforts to end violence through political negotiations. But the U.S. military said it would continue to target what it called criminals using Sadr City to launch attacks.

"This agreement really doesn't change anything for us," U.S. military spokesman for Baghdad, Steven Stover, said. "If anyone's firing mortars, rockets or planting an I.E.D (improvised explosive device), we're going to kill him."

Stover said U.S. troops had exchanged fire with an attacker on Sunday morning and killed him.

The Iraqi government said the truce would enable security forces to enter the slum and deliver emergency aid to residents, which would start after a 4-day grace period to give militants time to quit their positions and clear the roads of bombs.

"This will help us deliver humanitarian aid and food," said Tahseen al-Sheikhli, civil spokesman for Baghdad's security plan. "The Sadrists must show cooperation through handing over wanted people, laying down their arms."

The government says the deal calls on militiamen to hand in their medium and heavy weapons. This would include rocket launchers, used to fire hundreds of shells at the Green Zone government and diplomatic compound since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militias in late March.

Aid agencies welcomed the truce but warned that Sadr City would not recover from the conflict overnight.

"It's not a case of everything will go back to normal after a ceasefire," said Claire Hajaj, spokeswoman of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Iraq program.

She cited education as something that would take a long time to restore, even if the ceasefire does hold.

"The damage is done... Schools are damaged and parents have been keeping children away because of insecurity. They're ... not going to be rushing back," she said, adding that some schools were still being used by militiamen to stock weapons.

Gunmen have been battling U.S. and Iraqi forces nearly every night in Sadr City since the crackdown, making life a misery for the slum's mostly poor inhabitants. Several thousand people have fled but most have been holed up in their homes.

Sadr threatened last month to formally scrap a truce he imposed on the Mehdi Army in August. A few weeks later he told the militia to observe the truce -- which has at times seemed irrelevant -- leaving Iraqis guessing over his true intentions.

A Sadr spokesman said he expected the cleric to make a statement about the pact.

(Writing by Dean Yates and Tim Cocks; editing by Sami Aboudi)

LIKE IT?  LET OTHERS KNOW

Thanks for participating!

Be the first to recommend - Sign in now


See what other people are recommending - Popular Stories