Al-Sadr, rival reach truce in southern Iraq Shiite conflicts

BAGHDAD - Two of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders whose militias have been vying for control of the nation's oil-rich southern region reached a truce yesterday to end bloodshed between their loyalists that has left scores of Iraqis dead and raised fears of a new front in the Iraq war.

An announcement of the truce - between radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his chief rival, Abdelaziz Hakim - said it would include the forming of committees in each southern province to work out problems before they explode in violence as the British military has pulled back to a base at the Basra airport.

It also comes as mainstream politicians from Iraq's majority sect, which controls the government, have been trying to bring al-Sadr back into the fold after his loyalists pulled out of the main Shiite bloc last month.

Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite politics at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the pact was significant. "The two have the largest militias, and the most extensive political networks and bases of support. The deal, if it sticks, can bring stability to southern Iraq," he said.

Officials of Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the largest Shiite political party, said the deal was reached during a 41/2-hour meeting between the Shiite leaders. Both sides said they would reveal details today.

A spokesman for al-Sadr said the deal was aimed at calming tensions on the streets, but would have no impact on the clergyman's decision to leave the Shiite political alliance of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Parliament. Al-Sadr pulled his 30 lawmakers from the bloc in September, leaving al-Maliki's alliance with only 83 seats in the 275-member Parliament.

Al-Sadr has been a fierce opponent of the U.S. presence in Iraq and has criticized al-Maliki for not demanding the withdrawal of American forces.

Analysts have said al-Sadr's moves since February, when President Bush sent additional forces to Iraq as part of a plan to encourage political progress in Baghdad, indicate he is positioning himself to take on a more powerful political role when those troops begin leaving.

Joost Hiltermann, an Iraq expert with the International Crisis Group, said the new truce served both sides well because neither is capable of winning a decisive military victory, and could be part of al-Sadr's long-term political strategy.

Hakim, ill with cancer, enjoys good relations with the United States. He is not likely to move against al-Sadr for the time being. To do so while al-Sadr has frozen his militia activities would make him look overly aggressive. Al-Sadr, meanwhile, remains on the defensive as long as U.S. forces are in Iraq, but he is biding his time, Hiltermann said.

The more time he has to cast himself as a peacemaker rather than a rabble-rouser, the better it will serve him once the extra troops sent to Iraq this year begin to depart.