Smash hit

Baghdad was not completely quiet. The US army admitted that its forces had called in at least three helicopter strikes in Baghdad last night after al-Mahdi Army’s ceasefire, including one in which they said they killed 25 militants who had ambushed a convoy struck by a roadside bomb.

The deaths pushed the toll from six days of fighting to more than 320, at least 140 of them in Baghdad.

This morning a fresh volley of mortar bombs struck the “Green Zone”, the government and diplomatic compound in a maze of blast-wall-lined roads that once served as Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace complex. The blasts caused at least five casualties, including two American soldiers and an Iraqi army major.

“The attacks haven’t stopped. There’s still a lot of enemy out there, we’re not going to quit protecting the populace,” said Major Mark Cheadle. But he added that the tempo of fighting in the capital had eased over the past two days and that US forces expected it to decline further.

“They were looking for an excuse to stop fighting,” he said. “They don’t like facing us because they get killed.”

In Sadr City, however, al-Mahdi Army militants were claiming victory, saying that the Government had failed in every single one of its objectives in its abortive military operation.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, launched the crackdown last Tuesday in Basra, which controls Iraq’s only sea port and 80 per cent of its oil revenues.

The Government said that it was not acceptable to have rival militia fighting for control of its streets, and that the crackdown would assert state authority over a lawless city.

But the militia are also tied to political parties, and al-Mahdi Army followers saw the crackdown as an attempt to subdue them ahead of provincial elections due by October. Mr al-Maliki and much of his government belong to a rival Shia political party to Hojatoleslam al-Sadr.

After fierce fighting which al-Mahdi Army appeared to be winning, it came as a surprise when the militia announced its ceasefire.

It appears that a favourable deal was struck after talks behind the scenes with parties in Mr al-Maliki’s government. The authorities have promised to end round-ups of Hojatoleslam al-Sadr's followers and implement an amnesty to free prisoners.

The government has also said it wants militants to hand over heavy and medium weapons, but al-Mahdi Army says it has no heavy weapons and that its militiamen will keep their light arms to defend themselves against the US occupation.

Sheikh Ali al-Saedi, a member of Sadr’s office in Basra, said that a committee of politicians and MPs had been set up to supervise the agreement between the government and Sadr.

It remains to be seen whether the truce will hold, however, as tempers remain high after a week of fighting in which hundreds of people died. Hojatoleslam al-Sadr’s followers revere him passionately, but his grip over them weakens once they take to the streets. A ceasefire he ordered last year did not halt attacks completely, although it did lead to a sharp decrease in violence.

“We respect the orders of Moqtada al-Sadr, but at the same time the government should also respect his statement,” said Abu Munadhil al-Tamimi, a Mehdi Army group leader in Basra.

Basra residents blamed Mr al-Maliki for unleashing the violence.

“Today the situation is good. The battle is over. But Maliki did not achieve what he wanted. He ruined Basra,” said Numan Taha, 40, as he reopened his grocery in the Hayaniya neighbourhood, a Sadr stronghold.

“It was a carnage Maliki conducted, along with his soldiers. There was killing in the streets of our neighbourhood,” said Ahmed Sattar, 25.

Jabbar Sabhan, 43, a civil servant, said that he was glad the violence had died down but was doubtful the calm would hold.

“I didn’t go to work today. It is true that there are no clashes, gunmen or explosions, but the situation is still dangerous. I don’t trust the words of politicians.”

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