Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has accepted a peace plan for Najaf that would disarm his militiamen and remove them from a holy shrine where they are based.

However, a spokesman of Al-Sadr said Al-Sadr wanted to negotiate how the deal would be implemented.

The cleric's decision came just hours after Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said the government was prepared to raid the revered Imam Ali shrine as early as Wednesday to root out the militants.

The agreement could spell the end of the two-week resurgence of violence in this holy city that enraged many of the country's majority Shiites.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, the Iraqi National Conference picked 81 members of a National Council that will act as a watchdog on the interim Iraqi government until January elections.

Instead of voting on the 81 as planned, conference delegates approved a candidate list after a competing list was withdrawn.

In other development, a mortar round slammed into a busy market in the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday, killing at least six civilians and wounding 23.

Source:CRIENGLISH.com