Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani arrived in the battered city of Najaf on Thursday, renewing hope of a peaceful solution to the clashes between Shiite militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and US-led interim government forces.

Sistani, 75, who returned Iraq on Wednesday from London where he received medical treatment for three weeks, arrived in Najaf from Basra accompanied by thousands of supporters.

He said he will declare a peace plan to end the bloody crisis that ravaged the holy city of Najaf.

The plan, according to sources close to Sistani, is that all the American forces as well as the Mehdi Army loyal to Sadr withdraw from Najaf and the Iraqi police take on the security responsibilities.

If the peace plan works in Najaf and the surrounding cities, it will extend to Karbala, 80 km south of Baghdad, where fighting between supporters of Sadr and the US forces also ran fiercely, according to the sources.

Now, talks between aides of Sadr and Sistani are under way. But whether Sadr and Sistani will have a face-to-face meeting is still not known.

Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zorfi declared a 24-hour ceasefire effective from the time Sistani arrives in Najaf to give the militants loyal to Sadr a chance to decide whether to accept the cleric's peace plan.

Meanwhile, Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi lent another olive branch with a last call for peace in a statement on Thursday, promising Sadr militia amnesty if they leave the holy shrine in the city peacefully.

US troops, on their part, also announced a suspension of military actions for 24 hours in a bid to beef up the ceasefire agreement.

In response, Shiite militiamen, who are still holed up in the Imam Ali shrine fighting violently against the US forces, said that they will accept any decision made by the references, without further specification.

There are several religious references in Iraq, among whom, the most prominent is Sistani.

However, the hope for a peaceful solution in Najaf was dimmed by deadly incidents in Najaf's twin city of Kufa, where 74 people were killed and over 370 wounded in a mortar attack on the main mosque and shooting at a march which was blamed on Iraq's national guard.

As the most revered Shiite cleric, Sistani has met a warm welcome by Iraqis while returning from London for heart treatment. In their eyes, he represented the Shiite authority, capable of settling the crisis with his immense influence.

The Iraqi government also hoped that Sistani will play an essential role in the efforts to end the clashes in Najaf, believing that he has the most dignifying solution for all parties involved in the crisis.

However, some Iraqis seemed sorry that Sistani had not returned to Iraq earlier, worrying that he might not be able to do anything since the situation in Najaf has greatly exacerbated with hundreds dead.

The Great Ayatollah hesitated for a long time to interfere directly in the crisis of Najaf. Like other moderate Shiite leaders, he avoided shooting criticism of Sadr for fear of growing tensions among Shiites who make up 60 percent of the Iraqi population.

Ahmed Hussein, a retiree in Baghdad, voiced his worry that if Sistani did not succeed in disbanding the Mehdi Army, Sadr might continue his battles in other cities like Basrah, Ummarah, Nasiriyah and Sadr City in Baghdad even if the Najaf crisis ended.

Nevertheless, the initiative of Al Sistani renewed hope of solving the crisis and the coming hours are decisive between a peaceful solution and more violent conflicts, observers said.

Source: Xinhua