Militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr offered yesterday to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for the release of prisoners and a role in Iraq's political process, hours after the US military freed one of the cleric's aides. "We are ready to lay down our heavy and medium-sized weapons in return for the release of all those imprisoned from our movement, a commitment that members of our movement will no longer be pursued and the restoration of basic services to areas like Sadr City," Abdul Hadi Al-Darraji said. "This initiative is being presented only to the Iraqi government," he clarified.
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He said Sadr's movement is willing to take part in January's elections as long as they are "free of US influence and overseen by international monitors." The government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has been trying to work out a deal that calls on fighters to lay down their weapons unconditionally in the Baghdad district of Sadr City and the return of full control of the area to Iraqi forces. The deal, which is being mediated by tribal leaders in the area, also calls for the start of reconstruction in the mostly Shiite district. Earlier, Moayad Al-Khazraji, detained nearly a year ago along with other Shiite clerics close to Sadr, telephoned colleague Sheikh Mahmoud Sudani after he got out of jail. "He was released this morning," Sudani said. A US official confirmed Khazraji was among 230 Iraqis being freed from Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad this week.
A US officer in charge of detentions said the latest group of prisoner releases from Abu Ghraib would take two days. "After these releases, there will be about 2,000 prisoners at Abu Ghraib and about 3,000 at Camp Bucca," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, referring to a jail in the southern port of Umm Qasr. |