Anti-US cleric's cease-fire in doubt

February 20, 2008
Anti-US cleric's cease-fire in doubt

BAGHDAD - With deadly attacks against U.S. targets increasing around Baghdad, anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raised the possibility Wednesday that he may not renew a six-month cease-fire widely credited for helping slash violence.

The cease-fire is due to expire Saturday, and there were fears, especially among minority Sunni Arabs, that the re-emergence of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia could return Iraq to where it was just a year ago — with sectarian death squads prowling the streets of a country on the brink of civil war.

American General Orders Commanders to Seek Peace With Terrorists in Iraq

June 1, 2007
American General Orders Commanders to Seek Peace With Terrorists in Iraq

Odierno cited some progress in Iraq and said U.S. forces are negotiating cease-fires with local Sunni and Shiite insurgent groups that it considers "reconcilable" in an effort to reduce violence.

Odierno said he recently gave military commanders authority to strike such agreements with insurgent groups that have staged attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces. He said that he thinks 80 percent of the fighters -- including Sunni insurgents, Shiite militia such as the Mahdi Army, and possibly a small number of al-Qaeda in Iraq members -- are "reconcilable," meaning they could be persuaded to lay down their weapons.