Two of the senior Shia political leaders in Iraq agreed in principle to crack down on death squads within their own ranks yesterday. The rival Shia factions struck the deal in an attempt to salvage the country from collapse, said Haidar al-Abadi, a Shia MP in the Dawa party, who is close to Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister.

The Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri) agreed that the national unity Government had been rendered impotent by the failure of the Shia coalition to take on militants who have been killing Sunnis and fuelling sectarian strife.

The Sunni parliament bloc has backed extremist groups that are killing Shias. The violence backed by the two camps has led to many experts calling the conflict in Iraq a civil war.

Last night a delegation was on its way to the shrine city of Najaf intent on convincing the anti-Western cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia is blamed for much of the widespread killing of Sunnis, to join the crackdown. Officials close to Hojatoleslam al-Sadr said he had agreed to rejoin the Iraqi Government.

Although the two parties are agreed on the need for a crackdown, the accord could easily fall apart if Hojatoleslam al-Sadr cannot be persuaded to back it and if Sunni parties fail to take similar steps.

“The level of violence is not accepted. We have to let the Government hit the criminal elements hard no matter who they are. We don’t accept this any more,” Mr al-Abadi said.

“If they are in your [political] camp you have to do something about this. If they are in your areas you have to help. This includes everyone in eastern Baghdad and western Baghdad.” MPs from both parties confirmed that they had reached a basic understanding that they hope to finalise in the next few days.

Reda Jawad al-Taqi, a Sciri MP, said: “We have decided to elect a committee to go to Najaf to see Grand Ayatollah Sistani and Hojatoleslam al-Sadr to bring the Sadrists back into the political process.” He confirmed that Dawa and Sciri are close to a formal agreement to crack down on the armed groups. He insisted that both were determined to help to stop “the criminal elements who have infiltrated the Mahdi Army”. Sciri was intent on stopping those “who had committed crimes under cover of its own name”. “No arms should be in the hands of anyone but the Government. We do not believe in the militias any more,” he said.

Two senior Shia MPS from Sciri and Dawa have started talks with Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, who is said to be furious with the record levels of violence. The delegation will also meet the other three grand ayatollahs of Najaf who, along with him, serve as the spiritual guides for the Shia majority. The talks will also include Hojatoleslam al-Sadr and Ayatollah Mohammed Yacoubi, the religious guide for the fundamentalist Fadila party, Mr al-Abadi said.

“We’ll get this unanimous agreement [in Najaf] that will give support to the Government. The essence is there is no alternative to the political process. There is no way but the political process, the government of national unity. This government must be supported and everyone must be on board.”

The alliance between Mr al-Maliki and Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the Sciri leader, is a breakthrough. Their parties have enjoyed a long political rivalry.

If their new platform is implemented, it marks a huge shift in the philosophy of the mainstream Shia parties. Sciri has its own Badr Corp militia, which has co-operated with Mahdi Army in killing Sunnis.

Dawa, which lacks its own militia, has relied on Mahdi Army for muscle. Its political leaders have argued that they cannot confront Shia militants while Sunnis kill Shia.

Whether the Shia parties push through the new agenda will depend on the outcome of negotiations between the United Iraqi Alliance and the Sunni Tawafuq political bloc, which has 44 parliament seats.

“We are trying to find a Sunni leader who can talk nationally. Somebody responsible enough to be a statesman. The problem inside Tawafuq is the extremists are banging the drums and everyone else is finding themselves isolated,” Mr al-Abadi said.

The best hope of the Shias for a partner is Tawafuq’s biggest group, the Islamic Party, which is headed by the Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi. Mr al-Hashemi has indicated that he wants to join such an alliance, but Mr al-Abadi remains sceptical.

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