Sadr’s Militia Must Leave Shrines, Top Shiites Say

A hundred of the most powerful Shiite leaders agreed in a meeting here Tuesday that anti-American cleric Muqtada Sadr must withdraw his militia from the holy shrines at Najaf and Kufa, where he has been stockpiling arms, and give authority for policing the cities back to the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and police.

It was the clearest such statement by a group of powerful Shiites Muslims and could open the way for a resolution of the standoff in Najaf, where U.S. troops have surrounded the city in an effort to pressure Sadr to disband his Al Mahdi militia, which has set up illegal checkpoints, taken over police stations and seized civil authority.

Those at the meeting -- who included religious, political and tribal leaders -- agreed on four points, said Joad Al Malki, a member of the political bureau of the Shiite Dawa Party:

Sadr and his armed men must leave the shrines at Najaf and Kufa; the police and defense corps must resume policing functions; and the two cities cannot be used to stockpile weapons. If they continued to be used this way, then Sadr alone will have to face the consequences, they said.

The final point is an injunction to the U.S.-led coalition not to enter the shrines themselves to rid the cities of Sadr and his men. But significantly, there was no mention of staying out of the two cities, which U.S. troops have avoided entering.

“Five representatives traveled to Najaf today” to inform Sadr and the coalition of the decision, Malki said.

A source close to the meeting said the joint call was meant to put the stamp of the entire Shiite community on the action.

The mood in Najaf remained tense Tuesday as skirmishes continued between U.S. forces and guerrillas loyal to Sadr. In an early-morning gunfight, U.S. forces killed three Iraqis believed to be with Sadr’s militia.

In Fallouja, meanwhile, confusion continued about the role of a former Iraqi army general in policing this turbulent city, and Civil Defense Corps troops began manning checkpoints Tuesday in the most battle-scarred neighborhoods.

Wearing purple berets and green camouflage uniforms, the Iraqi forces moved into the battered Jolan neighborhood where Marines and insurgents fought for more than three weeks.

Although the chain of command still seemed to be in some doubt, a former Iraqi army general, Mohammed Latif, appeared to have displaced the man first named to the job and be cementing his position as the commander of the new Fallouja protective force. The Fallouja Brigade, which includes soldiers from Saddam Hussein’s disbanded army, recently was charged by Americans with keeping order in the city.

Overall the mood in the city was ebullient as members of the former Iraqi army, some wearing their old uniforms and others civilian clothes, flocked to the mayor’s office to sign up for positions in the Fallouja Brigade.

The man first mentioned for the brigade’s top job was former Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh, who entered Fallouja last week to the cheers of residents. But Saleh later was nixed by U.S. officials in Washington sensitive to concerns from Shiite Muslims and Kurds that he had been involved in the violent suppression of a 1991 uprising.

In Washington, Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith said Iraqi public reaction had driven the decision. “After you’re finished vetting people and you go public with somebody, if you’ve made a mistake, you hear about it, and that allows you to take corrective action,” Feith said Tuesday in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank. “And that’s what was done in that case.”

However, Latif said Tuesday at a news conference in Fallouja that Saleh would still be one of his deputies and would be responsible for one of three sectors in the city. It was not clear whether U.S. officials were prepared to sign off on that role.

Appearing in a gray business suit, Latif outlined his view of the last three weeks, underscoring that his first loyalty was to Falloujans and suggesting that, if necessary, he would die fighting for them.

“We came not as negotiators between two sides, not neutral, we considered ourselves as from Fallouja,” said Latif, clearly distancing himself from the Marines. “We are going to discuss the situation with the other side [the Marines] as if we are from Fallouja.... If it fails, then we will die to protect Fallouja’s children and elderly.”

Latif attributed the March 31 killing of four American civilian contractors, whose bodies were dragged through the streets, to foreign insurgents and urged the people of Fallouja to be proud that all the city’s mosques condemned the act.

Latif and other Iraqi officers in charge of the Fallouja Brigade met with Marine brass Tuesday to explain their plan for dealing with the foreign fighters who U.S. officials believe served as a nucleus of the insurgency.

Col. John Toolan, commander of the 1st Marine Regiment, said the Iraqis were eager to “take those mujahedin criminals to justice.” The colonel indicated that the Marines are continuing to press high-ranking Iraqi officers on the goal of making Fallouja safe for Westerners.

The Coalition Provisional Authority has slated more than $100 million in building and renovation projects for Fallouja when it becomes safe for contractors to return.

All roads into Fallouja were open this morning for the first time since Marines encircled the city the night of April 5. After Marines pulled back from checkpoints, Iraqi security forces that took over were admitting long lines of cars, trucks and bicycles into the city.

As the Iraqi forces assume more authority for the city, most of the Marine units are moving into the suburbs and farm belt to look for insurgents and weapons smugglers.

Elsewhere, U.S. forces reported that four soldiers were killed when their Humvee overturned north of Baghdad while they were on patrol.

Times staff writer Alissa J. Rubin in Baghdad contributed to this report.