Sadr orders followers to cease fire across Iraq

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday ordered his followers to end clashes with US andIraqi forces across Iraq, one of his aides said.

"Leader Sadr has ordered the halt of all military operations inIraq and we are considering to join the political process," saidSheikh Naim al-Qaabi in Baghdad.

Sadr's Mehdi Army militia fought hard against the US-backedIraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf for nearly three weeks andthe violence had spread to other Shiite areas in Iraq.

The bloody standoff in Najaf only came to an end on Friday undera peace deal brokered by Iraq's most revered Shiite leaderAyatollah Ali al-Sistani.

The truce call came as Sadr's aides were trying to negotiate apeace agreement with the Iraqi interim government to end fightingin the Baghdad Shiite stronghold of Sadr City.

Source: Xinhua