Sadr City pact holds despite deadly clashes

[unhappycamper]

Sadr City pact holds despite deadly clashes
By Chris Tomlinson - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 14, 2008 6:34:40 EDT

BAGHDAD — A shaky cease-fire appeared to take hold Tuesday in Baghdad’s Sadr City, after a cleric who brokered the deal for Shiite fighters said they would honor it even after clashes left at least 11 dead.

The pact was intended to stop seven weeks of fighting between U.S.-supported Iraqi troops and Shiite extremists who have fired more than 1,000 mortars and rockets into the Green Zone, home to the government and Western embassies. But the cease-fire did not start well, with clashes late Monday and early Tuesday.

Iraqi medics reported 11 killed and 19 wounded. There were women and children among the wounded, said hospital officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The U.S. military said Tuesday it could confirm the deaths of six militants.

The Sadr City fighting and cease-fire have brought into question the authority of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who currently lives in Iran. Al-Sadr signed a cease-fire agreement in August, but Shiite militiamen recently have ignored those orders.

Navy Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a military spokesman for American troops in Baghdad, said Tuesday that the fighting was caused by “special groups” — Shiite factions that have broken with al-Sadr. Many are thought to be trained and armed by Iranian forces. Iran denies the allegations.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_sadrcity_ceasefire_051308/