Iraqi cleric orders fighters to leave Najaf

Firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr Wednesday ordered fighters of mehdi Army who are not residents of Najaf to leave the holy city.

"Members of the Mehdi Army ... are asked to return to their regions," said a brief statement issued in the holy city of Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad.

Sadr agreed to a truce this month after weeks of fighting with US-led forces in Najaf and its twin city of Kufa and Kerbala.

Source: Xinhua