Shi'ite leaders seal pact to curb violence

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's two most powerful Shi'ite leaders have signed their first written agreement, pledging to prevent bloodshed by working together to avoid confrontation, Iraqi officials said on Saturday.

Supporters of fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) are locked in a violent struggle for control of the towns and cities in Iraq's predominantly Shi'ite south.

Political analysts fear the struggle for dominance in the southern regions, where U.S. forces have little or no presence, will intensify ahead provincial elections expected next year.

"Sayyed Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr have agreed on the necessity of preserving and respecting Iraqi blood under any condition," said the agreement signed by Hakim and Sadr and seen by Reuters on Saturday.

Feuding between Iraq's Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds has all but paralyzed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government and prevented progress on key reforms wanted by Washington.

The United States sent 30,000 more troops to Iraq this year to try to halt sectarian violence and give politicians a breathing space to reconcile their differences.

The number of civilian and U.S. deaths dropped markedly in September but there has been little progress in parliament and sectarian killings still plague the country.

The security push was seen as a final attempt by the U.S. military to prevent all-out war between majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arabs.