Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said Friday that radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is unhurt in a US raid in the holy city of Najaf, Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV reported Friday.

Naqib said Sadr was now negotiating with the government to leave the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.

"Moqtada will not be arrested if he leaves the shrine peacefully. A truce has been in place since last night," he said.

"We will go after the criminal elements which have penetrated the Sadr movement, but not Moqtada," he added.

The Iraqi government has been under pressure to stop the US attack on Najaf as casualties mount and more Iraqis expressed outrage at the US tactics used to confront the cleric and his followers.