Shiite bloc says Sadr City cease-fire signed with Sadrists

[May 12, 2008]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- The deal was officially signed Monday between five representatives of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and four member of the main Shiite political bloc.

Khalid al-Attiyah, the deputy parliamentary speaker, says Iraqi government forces will be able to enter Sadr City as early as Wednesday.

The U.S. military has expressed hope for a diplomatic solution to seven weeks of fighting in Sadr City, which houses nearly half the capital's six million people.

Fighting in Sadr City flared in late March after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on armed Shiite factions in the southern port city of Basra.

[Associated Press]

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