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Sadr folds, at least for now
Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to end their uprising against U.S. and Iraqi forces while he considers forming a political movement, senior al-Sadr officials said Monday. Al-Sadr has backed off other commitments in the past, but a truce would be a major victory for interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi by removing a serious insurgency and potentially bringing many of the Shiite cleric's followers into the effort to build a peaceful democracy. The al-Sadr announcement came amid conflicting reports on Iraq's vital oil exports. Iraqi oil officials and the governor of Basra state said exports were shut down after a rash of pipeline attacks. However, world oil prices decreased as traders said other reports suggested some oil was still flowing. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, October contracts for light sweet crude fell 90 cents a barrel to $42.28 — well below peaks above $48 a barrel in mid-August. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-08-31 |
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